Little One
by wolfsrainrules
Summary: Harry falls through the veil and of course Potter Luck kicks in. (In which Harry's Animagus form is a Sparkling and he finds a family.) Drabble series. Cover is by DestinyKitsuna!
1. Chapter 1

**Age of the Greek Baby Challenge.**

 **Challenge: After being sent through the veil, Harry wakes up in his Animagus form-a sparkling- on Earth, but not** _ **his**_ **Earth. Beyond disoriented he unknowingly releases a distress signal from where he is stranded. He's found by somebody, and isn't capable of speech, but rather clicks, chirps and whirs- Cybertronian baby speech.**

 **I don't own Harry Potter or Transformers- this applies the entire story.**

 **Drabble/One Shot series.**

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Harry had no idea what had happened.

One moment, he had been fighting Death Eaters in the Ministry- the next he had been falling.

And falling.

And _falling._

And then there had been a voice.

" _ **Close your eyes…"**_

Harry closed his eyes. The voice felt too much like _home-safe-love_ to do anything but obey, his instincts humming with trust and happiness.

And then something warm and light, something like love and joy washed over his body dragging something that screamed and thrashed out of him. Then he was falling again, everything shifting and changing and swirling together until he could no longer tell which way was up or down nor would he remember anything of the encounter except an unexplainable warmth later on.

On the side of the veil Harry Potter had come from, though he was not aware of it, Voldemort screamed.

The _home-safe-love_ that had been shared with Harry had turned to _anger-vengeance-disgust_ as the Presence that had so welcomed Harry eradicated Tom Riddle in his entirety, using the piece of him that had clung to Harry as a parasite as a bridge to the others.

O~O~O~

When Harry wakes the last thing he remembers is falling and warmth. He has no idea where he is or what happened as he comes to.

His eyes dart around his surroundings and all he can see are trees. A low whir of distress escapes from him without his permission and it is only then that Harry realizes he is in his Animagus form.

He'd had the biggest problems trying to figure out what he had been. He hadn't been able to figure it out either- all he'd found out while trying to shift had been his form had a kind of metallic hide, and was large. Looking at himself now, he knows he would have never guessed 'robot'.

It shouldn't have been possible.

O~O~O~

Harry is unaware of why his emotions are so hard to deal with, why they are jumping all over the place, and why he can't seem to push them away as he always has.

He is unaware that he is comparatively a baby of an entirely different race of beings, and he is unaware of the programs his growing panic activates.

A signal goes out.


	2. Chapter 2

**AU. Possible OOC. I messed with the time measurements for myself.**

 **TIME MEASUREMENTS:**

 **Astrosecond:** .5 seconds

 **Nano-klik:** 1 second

 **Klik** : 1 minute

 **Breem:** 8 minutes

 **Cycle:** 24 hours (one day)

 **Deca-cycle:** 4 weeks (one month)

 **Mega-cycle:** 96 hours (four days)

 _ **Meta**_ **-cycle:** 12 months (one year)

 **Stellar Cycle:** 6 months

 **Vorn:** 83 years

 **Mega-vorn** : 83,000 years (1000 vorns)

 **60 mega-vorns:** 4,980,000years

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Sunstreaker was out on the road driving, stretching his wheels, and contemplating where the Cybertronians had ended up.

Earth was a study of contrasts.

He hated how disgusting this organic planet made him feel. Dust and dirt and all sorts of things floated through the air so that no matter how many times he cleaned himself, or how often he polished his frame, it stuck to his him and got into every possible crevice. He hated that the humans expelled oils and sweat wherever they went, and that most of them had the nasty habit of _touching_ his alt form and smearing the oil and dirt all over him.

Sunstreaker hated it.

But the artist in him…that part could admit this planet was beautiful. He could look at the land around him, at the colors the rising and setting of this planets sun dyed the sky, at the shining of the ocean when the sun was just beginning to rise, the sky caught in the middle of a storm, and he could appreciate what he saw.

(He had quite a few paintings hanging on the walls, or stashed away, of different scenes on this planet)

For all that certain things about the Earth or humans disgusted him Sunstreaker was not blind to the beauty and goodness that existed as well.

He was…content. Not exactly _happy_ , but somewhere close to it, and he thought he might one day reach a state where he could say he was happy eventually.

Sunstreaker paused.

What...what was that?

O~O~O~

Harry was not happy. He was panicky and sobbing, and everything seemed _scary_ and Harry hated it. He was alone, surrounded by trees, in pain and had no idea what was going on. Not to mention that he couldn't sense the magic of the Earth anymore, while his own was greatly diminished.

He'd always been very good at that- at sensing and communicating with the Magic of the Earth, and his own. The fact that his own magic was so dim when compared to what he normally had- everything that was left of it being located where his heart would be in this body- and the Magic of the Earth seemingly _gone_ …it was only making his absolute terror worse.

O~O~O~

Sunstreaker had never driven so fast in his entire life.

He could hear Sideswipe frantically trying to grab his attention through their Twin Bond, but he wasn't paying much attention to that. Once he had realized exactly _what_ he had heard long dormant programing had woken with a vengeance and the single-minded desire to find the source had taken over his processor.

It was so bad in fact, that Sunstreaker's normally blue optics had blazed to white as his Gladiator Programing surfaced to work with his Battle Computer.

If he had calculated everything properly…the source should be right… _there._

O~O~O~

Harry's sobbing cries worsened as the forest around him shook with the force of whatever or whoever was coming his way. He'd discovered in his panic that he was not quite capable of walking or really moving in his Animagus form when he tried to get up and get away. Instead he had fallen back to what he had done at the Dursleys' when he was incapable of escaping whatever new punishment would be dished out by his relatives- he curled up into the smallest ball he could manage in an effort to protect all his vital areas.

When the trees in front of him were ripped away, torn out of the earth around them, Harry flinched sharply a wail cutting off as he curled a little tighter. The forest fell silent as Harry waited for whatever was about to happen, but as moments passed and nothing was done, Harry opened his optics and slowly emerald optics lifted to see what had happened.

O~O~O~

One part of Sunstreaker's mind was running on his Gladiator Programing, ready to take out anything and everything that presented the slightest hint of a threat. The rest of him had narrowed down into tunnel vision as his spark seized with shocked wonder at the sight in front of him. He could feel as Sideswipe's inquiries after him became frantic and worried, but he could not pull his optics away from the miracle in front of him.

There had not been a sparkling in well over 60 mega-vorns.

 _It should not have been possible._

Sunstreaker heard the quiet sniffles and clicks of distress after a klick of staring, and he reacted even before he realized what he was planning to do.

He swept the sparkling up off the ground, pressing the little one close to his chassis over his spark and crooned low and deep and protective.

(Sunstreaker had no idea, but the moment the little sparkling looked up into his (still) white optics and crooned hesitantly back, while little servos gripped ahold of his armor the Gladiator Programing in him immediately assigned the sparkling as _his_ to protect. He was lost to the little one even before he was aware he could be lost)


	3. Chapter 3

**This challenge was also taken up by Sylenttails- just so everyone is aware I don't mean to copy or steal anything from them.**

 **TIME MEASUREMENTS:**

 **Astrosecond:** .5 seconds

 **Nano-klik:** 1 second

 **Klik** : 1 minute

 **Breem:** 8 minutes

 **Cycle:** 24 hours (one day)

 **Deca-cycle:** 4 weeks (one month)

 **Mega-cycle:** 96 hours (four days)

 _ **Meta**_ **-cycle:** 12 months (one year)

 **Stellar Cycle:** 6 months

 **Vorn:** 83 years

 **Mega-vorn** : 83,000 years (1000 vorns)

 **60 mega-vorns:** 4,980,000years

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Harry almost screamed when the _huge_ golden being in front of him reached for him. He was so used to touch hurting in some way or another it didn't even dawn on him that the being might not hurt him.

When the crooning noise registered- that low toned protective sound- Harry couldn't help it as he instinctively relaxed (and unknowingly the signal he had released in his distress cut out). He near melted into the utter warmth of the golden being, relaxing as he picked up the almost-heartbeat that was instead a humming sound. (He would come to know that it was called a 'spark-beat'.)

Harry looked up into the eyes of the being that gleamed like golden holy fire, and he could see the fighter in this one's soul.

A fighter like him. Someone who had suffered and fought for everything he had gotten with his own hands. Who had had to fight to _keep_ those things. A kindred soul.

Harry crooned back at the being, hesitant but trusting he would be safe in this being's hands as his instincts hummed happily.

He felt it as the golden being tightened his grip on Harry slightly, the white of his eyes shining brightly for a moment into a bonfire before returning to the embers that gleamed at him.

O~O~O~

Cybertronian frames were numerous and had many differences.

This was fact.

Another fact was that every Cybertronian frame- no matter the 'gender' of the frame in question- had a Sparkling Chamber. The only difference between a mech and femme in regards to this particular Chamber was that a femme's chamber was capable of sheltering a spark as it formed. It was only after the 'birth' of the spark that a femme's Sparkling Chamber became the equivalent of a mech's. A mech's Sparkling Chamber could not support a new-spark as it formed as a femme's could- instead it acted as a safe place to hold the little ones (a bit like a kangaroo and its pouch actually) when they were so young and vulnerable.

O~O~O~

Sunstreaker crooned comfortingly at the sparkling in his servos as he opened his Sparkling Chamber- located in his chassis, beside his Spark Chamber for sparkling comfort- and placed the little one inside.

He needed to get to base.

O~O~O~

Harry should have been panicking.

He knew he should have been, since the being had placed him inside its chest, but he wasn't. He felt sheltered and safe, and the humming noise that seemed to be the being's heartbeat was much more audible and close in this place. His instincts- the instincts of his Animagus form- also hummed with contented safety.

Everything felt alright. He had never felt so protected in his life.

Nothing was wrong and so he had no reason to panic.


	4. Chapter 4

**TIME MEASUREMENTS:**

 **Astrosecond:** .5 seconds

 **Nano-klik:** 1 second

 **Klik** : 1 minute

 **Breem:** 8 minutes

 **Cycle:** 24 hours (one day)

 **Deca-cycle:** 4 weeks (one month)

 **Mega-cycle:** 96 hours (four days)

 _ **Meta**_ **-cycle:** 12 months (one year)

 **Stellar Cycle:** 6 months

 **Vorn:** 83 years

 **Mega-vorn** : 83,000 years (1000 vorns)

 **60 mega-vorns:** 4,980,000years

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Sunstreaker transformed down into his Lamborghini form, noticing as the sparkling was relocated into his passenger seat thanks to the transformation. He sped away from the site he had located the sparkling and reached for his comm.

 _~Sunstreaker to Ratchet.~_

 _~Sunstreaker! Care to tell me why I have your twin in here insisting that something is wrong with you?~_

Sunstreaker could feel the worry over the Twin Bond he shared with Sideswipe, but his instincts, Battle Computer, and Gladiator Programs were all working together to point out the risks of taking his attention off his surroundings for any length of time. He had no idea how long the sparkling had been sending out that distress signal after all, nor who had picked it up before he got there.

He didn't even like talking to Ratchet- but the sparkling was injured and Sunstreaker _would_ see to it that the sparkling could be looked after as soon as he arrived.

 _~It isn't me Ratchet. Prepare the med bay for incoming.~_ He didn't want to tell Ratchet what sort of incoming over the comm. Just in case…not to mention that he knew no one would believe he had a sparkling without actually _seeing_ him. Not with 60 mega-vorns between the last sparkling and now.

Ratchet's voice became sharp and serious as he asked _~How badly injured?~_

Sunstreaker remembered the numerous injuries he had spotted on the tiny frame and he had to wrestle with his Gladiator Program for a moment as it insisted he murder whatever or whoever had caused them. _~…bad.~_

Ratchet made a wordless noise that acknowledged his answer and also conveyed worry. Sunstreaker had been in the medic's servos often enough to recognize it for what it was. He sped up, his sensors cranked up as sensitive as he could make them. He would not see the sparkling damaged any more than he already was, especially while on his watch.

O~O~O~

Harry crooned in sleepy excitement from his place in the passenger's seat. He had no idea how the being had turned into a car, but it was a _fast_ car and Harry was _loving_ it. As the golden being drifted around a corner, and the seatbelt that had automatically clipped over him tightened, Harry squeaked happily, clapping his hands clumsily.

O~O~O~

Even as focused and worried as Sunstreaker was having the sparkling out of the base, he couldn't quite help the happy little smug rev of his engine as the sparkling squeaked and clapped his hands in response to Sunny's driving.

Without thinking, Sunstreaker made a mental note to take the sparkling out driving after he was alright.

He could feel Sideswipe's mental presence pressing against the door between their minds, and he knew his twin was probably prowling around the base like an earth-panther scaring Autobots and humans alike. (Sunny was aware that his own feelings- the hyperawareness, the worry, the rage- wouldn't help to calm his twin).

Sideswipe was such a joyful mischievous presence among humans and bots alike- especially with Sunstreaker's more stand-off attitude to compare to- that they tended to forget that Sides was right there with Sunny in the Gladiator Rings, that he had fought for every scrap he had just as Sunstreaker had. That Sideswipe was possessive and protective and just as capable of a Gladiator Rage as Sunstreaker was. That he was just as dangerous as Sunstreaker was.

Until something happened to Sunstreaker. (Then it tended to be forcefully shoved in everyone's faces.)

O~O~O~

As exciting as the golden being's driving was, Harry was exhausted. He had jumped right from a fight where he had received injuries, through a magical gateway, where _something_ -he had a mysterious blank spot in his memory apart from a feeling of comfort and warmth- had happened, only to land wherever he was, panic, and he had been picked up by the being.

(Harry wondered what his race was called)

He was ready to sleep. He chirped softly at the being, snuggling into the seat and closing his eyes. (The seat molded to his form and Harry crooned softly in content)

O~O~O~

Sunstreaker made an effort to drive smoother as he felt the little one drift into recharge in his seat. His scanners cranked up a few more notches in response, every protective instinct he had swelling in strength as the sparkling drifted into recharge.


	5. Chapter 5

**TIME MEASUREMENTS:**

 **Astrosecond:** .5 seconds

 **Nano-klik:** 1 second

 **Klik** : 1 minute

 **Breem:** 8 minutes

 **Cycle:** 24 hours (one day)

 **Deca-cycle:** 4 weeks (one month)

 **Mega-cycle:** 96 hours (four days)

 _ **Meta**_ **-cycle:** 12 months (one year)

 **Stellar Cycle:** 6 months

 **Vorn:** 83 years

 **Mega-vorn** : 83,000 years (1000 vorns)

 **60 mega-vorns:** 4,980,000years

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Sunstreaker screeched into Base without pause, every movement smooth and calculated to keep from disturbing his passenger.

He fought to ignore the way his inner Gladiator snarled at the mechs and femmes around him. He knew none of the bots on Base would threaten a sparkling. That they would destroy themselves first. (It didn't stop the very strong-and rather new- Guardian Protocols that were working it time with his Gladiator Programming, his Logic Center, and his Battle Computer from screeching about the _potential_ danger.)

He ignored everyone around him, settling a little as Sideswipe barreled around a corner to fall in behind him. Sides wouldn't let anyone sneak up on him, and he would watch Sunny's back without question no matter what bot approached or that he had no idea why Sunstreaker was so on edge.

Sunstreaker drifted around a corner, headed straight for med bay, and taking a moment to send _calm-peace_ to his twin when he sensed the worry spike over their twin bond as Sides realized where he was headed. People scrambled to get out of the way, but Sunstreaker took no notice, and when the people in question realized he was headed for med bay they took no offence to his driving. (They had had Autobots go careening down the halls to med bay more than once- it was expected by that point that when a bot was headed to med bay that quickly, the humans just needed to move because there was a good chance _somebody_ was hurt)

Sunstreaker transformed before he reached the doors, the sparkling relocating to his Sparkling Chamber smoothly and without disturbance.

Ratchet was waiting for him, and Sunstreaker could read his worry about the 'injured bot' Sunstreaker was supposed to be bringing in. He saw the flash of confusion in Ratchet's optics when he didn't see the bot in question.

Sunstreaker walked right up to the medic, Sideswipe on his heels, and demanded "Close this section of the med bay down. I'm calling in Protocol 9-8-3."

Sideswipe and Ratchet both tensed sharply in response to his words. Ratchet met his optics for an instant before springing into motion to obey.

O~O~O~

Protocol 9-8-3 was a rarely used protocol. It was a very, _very_ serious thing to put the procedure into motion- done only in the most important of circumstances.

What it did was tell whoever had been told to activate it that whatever was about to be shared or done, it was to be done with the upmost of secrecy. It was called in for only the most sensitive or secret of things, seeing as once it was activated, it locked out anyone not present for the activation.

Even a Prime.

By telling Ratchet to put Protocol 9-8-3 into motion Sunstreaker had basically put the portion of med bay they stood in on lockdown. No one got in, no one went out. Any medical issues that came up during the duration of the Protocol would need to be dealt with by Jolt or First Aid in another segment, and neither of the twins would be available for the duration of time the protocol was active.

The room would be _thoroughly_ swept from any kind of bugs or spyware before any kind of action would be taken, and the mechs in the room would be sworn to silence on the matter until the one to call it- Sunstreaker in this case- gave the okay to speak on whatever was discussed or done during the Protocol.

O~O~O~

And Sunstreaker knew this.

His newly activated Guardian Protocols demanded that he act to keep the sparkling as safe as he could. So Sunstreaker would hold Ratchet and Sideswipe to the demands of Protocol 9-8-3 and the silence on what he was about to show them from everyone- even Prime- until the sparkling was healed at the very least. After that…he would be willing to _try_ with the bots he trusted most. (Everyone else would need to work for it- and even those he trusted would need to prove worthy of the trust he was trying to extend to them.)

He was very aware that his optics were glowing white and announcing to all who knew the twins that Sunstreaker's Gladiator Programming was very much active. He was aware of the thin line he was walking, every instinct and Program he had screaming to shelter the sparkling, but the sparkling needed medical care, and Sunstreaker could not keep this from his twin- his other half.

So he needed to inform Ratchet and Sideswipe.

"Sunny?" Sideswipe's voice was soft but lined with steel and when Sunstreaker looked at him, he could see as the blue in his twin's optics began to lighten towards white as his Gladiator Program fought to surface.

Ratchet came back from sweeping the room and locking out anyone and everyone else, informing Jolt and First Aid they would be taking any medical cases until further notice, as well as activating the sound-proofing he so rarely had a reason to use. "Sunstreaker?"

Sunstreaker spent a silent moment wrestling with his Programs, the white glow in his optics brightening-which Ratchet and Sideswipe both took note of- before he managed it. "While I was out…I found something."

Another moment of silence before Sunstreaker closed his optics and sagged slightly on his pedes. "I have no idea how it is possible. By _all accounts_ it should not be." Sunny opened his optics and pinned the two bots into place with gleaming white. "You _will_ hold your silence on this to all bots until he is healed." He commanded them both despite knowing his twin and Ratchet would both obey Protocol 9-8-3 and hold their silence.

He got two serious nods in response, and very, very slowly, Sunstreaker reached up.

He knew the exact moment Ratchet and Sideswipe alike realized he was reaching for his Sparkling Chamber.

He felt the utter and complete shock that stole over his twin, so powerful that his legs weakened under him and he had to grab the closest berth when Sides realized where he was reaching. Ratchet locked into place, the older bot's optics tracking his servo as it got nearer and nearer to his chassis. And then Sunstreaker slowly, carefully, as if he was handling the most delicate of spun glass, reached into his Sparkling Chamber and pulled out the sleeping form of the sparkling.

O~O~O~

Sideswipe immediately had to sit down the moment the little being in his twin's servos came into view. His legs no longer wanted to support his weight at the sight of such an impossibility. There was no way—

No _wonder_ Sunstreaker's Gladiator Programs had snapped on so sharply and immediately! The twins had always had a soft spot for sparklings to begin with, finding a sparkling out on its own, so injured and upset…it was a wonder his twin had stayed online at all, much less that his Gladiator Programming hadn't gone on a rage. The rush of feelings that had near overloaded Sideswipe's processor before his twin had slammed their bond shut suddenly made perfect sense, as did the way Sunny had slammed their bond closed. There could be no distractions or risks of distractions while getting the little one to Base.

O~O~O~

Ratchet was an old bot.

Even by his race's standards.

He had seen many, many things. Things ranging from the most disturbing and despicable to awe-inspiring and beautiful.

Having one of the Twin Terrors come barreling into his med bay, frantic with worry over the other was bad news, for that usually meant something serious had happened to the other. The sort of serious that had Ratchet up to his elbows in Energon and broken parts. When Sunstreaker had called over the comm, his voice so tense, and reported an injured bot he was bringing in with that _tone_ he had used, Ratchet had worried.

But nothing, _**nothing**_ , could have prepared him for the truth.

When Sunstreaker had strode up to him, his optics glowing like white hellfire, and demanded Ratchet activate Protocol 9-8-3, his spark had dropped. Not even the twins would joke about something that serious, and so he had obeyed the demand.

But then Sunstreaker had reached up, and Ratchet had seen _where_ he was reaching and everything in his processor _stopped_.

It was not _possible_.

And yet…Sunstreaker removes a young- _impossibly young, too young only meta-cycles old_ \- sparkling from his Sparkling Chamber.

Ratchet sways on his pedes, reaching blindly for the med bay wall to brace himself up, his optics riveted on the impossibility in Sunstreaker's servos.

 _No wonder_ the bot had demanded he activate Protocol 9-8-3!


	6. Chapter 6

**TIME MEASUREMENTS:**

 **Astrosecond:** .5 seconds

 **Nano-klik:** 1 second

 **Klik** : 1 minute

 **Breem:** 8 minutes

 **Cycle:** 24 hours (one day)

 **Deca-cycle:** 4 weeks (one month)

 **Mega-cycle:** 96 hours (four days)

 _ **Meta**_ **-cycle:** 12 months (one year)

 **Stellar Cycle:** 6 months

 **Vorn:** 83 years

 **Mega-vorn** : 83,000 years (1000 vorns)

 **60 mega-vorns:** 4,980,000years

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

It takes a couple of klicks for Ratchet to snap out of his stupor.

Or rather the only thing that had snapped Ratchet out of his astonishment was the realization the sparkling was injured. (Ratchet had to wrestle sharply with an instant desire to take the cause apart for it in the most painful ways he knew how.)

On the heels of that realization was the next: Sunstreaker had claimed the little one as his own, and was very much in Gladiator mode. Ratchet would have to be careful. Especially considering Sunstreaker's twin was in the same room.

He approached the sparkling and Sunstreaker.

He made no fast, sudden movements, explaining what he was doing and what he was going to do as he went. He _did not_ want an enraged Gladiator running on Guardian Protocols locked in the med bay with his injured sparkling, especially as he would need to get very much into servo range of Sunstreaker to get to the sparkling. (Ratchet was rather attached to having his spark within its spark-casing inside his chassis.)

That wasn't even including Sideswipe who had instantly shifted to be at Ratchet's back as soon as the medic made a move towards the sparkling and his twin. Sideswipe would very much form a Guardian Bond with the sparkling- was already forming one from being so close to the little one. As part of a set of split-spark twins, there was no way Sideswipe _wouldn't_ form the same bond with the little one as Sunstreaker.

He carried the other half of the spark the sparkling had already bonded to after all. Taking the fact that Sideswipe _also_ had Gladiator Programing- and was in fact Sunstreaker's Battle Partner-into account meant that if Ratchet made any sort of wrong move, not only would Sunstreaker rip through his chassis to pull his spark from its chamber, but Sideswipe would rip through his back-plating to do the same and Ratchet would live only long enough to see his spark separated into two parts and pulled from his frame to be crushed in front of his optics. (It wouldn't even be personal. It would be an automatic response to _everyone_ until the twins' Guardian Protocols learned to recognize the other bots around them as 'safe'. It didn't matter how long the twins had known a bot, how much they trusted that bot. _Everyone_ would have to earn the trust needed for the Guardian Protocols to relax in their presence.)

(It was a deep show of ultimate trust for a bot to trust another with their sparkling. Trusting their own lives to others was a show of trust of course, but to trust the life of a sparkling- who had no chance of defending themselves- with another? That was deeper.)

Ratchet would definitely like to avoid any outcome that resulted in having his spark ripped from his chassis.

So he would explain exactly what he was going to do _before_ he did it.

O~O~O~

The sparkling was a seeker.

Ratchet shuttered his optics with surprise as he got his first honest good look at the little bot. It was a mech of course, mostly a deep almost black midnight blue, with silver accents. His wings were rather large for his frame, but that was a good thing.

Less of a good thing was the many, _many_ injures Ratchet found, some new and others in various stages of healing. The sparkling's lack of any kind of medic showed in the scarring that had taken place on his frame- any medic worth their title would smooth out and take care of any injuries that resulted in scars where possible, and Ratchet could see many scars that little seeker did not need to have. As he examined the sparkling further, Ratchet found the signs of _neglect_ on the little bot and very quickly had to back away from the sparkling and go to his office and break a few things. (If he had made that kind of threatening motion in the sparkling's presence the twins would have mauled him.)

He prayed it was simply due to his Creators dying and not because he was treated inappropriately. If he had been…nothing would stop Ratchet from hunting down the cause and picking them apart.

Then he'd put them back together and give the twins a turn.

O~O~O~

Once Ratchet had his moment of rage induced destruction, he went back to the little one and carefully began to treat what he could. When he could no longer allow Sunstreaker to hold the little bot, he instead had the mech place the sparkling on a berth.

He still explained what he was going to do as he hooked the little one up to all the proper equipment, and began to take deeper looks at the injuries, ignoring the way both of the twins hovered over him. (Ratchet wasn't stupid enough to demand new Guardians leave their _injured_ sparkling alone with him, not when the Guardian Protocols had not identified him as 'safe' yet.)

They were numerous and had various causes. The more Ratchet observed, the more enraged he became. It was becoming very obvious that whoever had had the sparkling…they had not taken care of the little one. Some of the injuries even looked very… _purposeful_.

Ratchet made a wordless distressed noise he could not have contained if he had tried. The twins straightened sharply and Ratchet supplied the answer before they thought to ask. "He was not cared for. Wherever he was- whoever had him- he was not looked after as she should have been. There are marks of _torture_ on the little one" Ratchet had to pause at the deafening roar of the twins' engines, and if he had pulled his optics away from the sparkling he would have seen both of the twins' optics were a pure bright white in their rage. "signs that he was neglected very soon after he was sparked, and continuously afterwards. I can fix the physical damage…but I do not know what will show itself emotionally and mentally for this sparkling."

Ratchet heard the sound of Energon Blades being pulled, but he made no move to defend himself. He knew he was not the target of the twins' rage. As the twins dissolved into a colorful description of exactly what they were going to do to whoever had had their sparkling before Sunny had found him, Ratchet took a moment to be glad he had injected sedatives into the sparkling's lines- otherwise the twins' rage would have definitely woken him.

And he wasn't even done with his report yet. "His processor shows signs of constant and forced hacking as well. I will take a closer look at that momentarily, but his firewalls were shredded by whoever attacked his mind. He…the mech-ling was not in a good place before you found him Sunstreaker. We will have to be on alert for anyone looking for him. He may have been…it may have been that he was experimented on."

Ratchet didn't flinch when he heard the sound of things breaking, and berths being flipped and thrown into the walls, when he heard the wordless _enraged_ roars of two Gladiators. (He wasn't even angry about the destruction- he had done much the same in his office. He did take a moment to be thankful about the soundproofing that had gone up over this section of the med bay. Every bot in hearing range would have come rushing at the noise, which would have set the twins off.)

He prayed he was wrong, that it was not _torture_ that caused the injuries on the little seeker,but it was the most likely scenario his processor came up with when faced with the many injuries the sparkling had both on his frame and to his processor.

It was enough to push Ratchet towards a rage.

(The last time Ratchet had gone into a rage had been on Cybertron in the middle of a battlefield where Prime had been bleeding life-Energon out under his servos and Decepticons had thought it a good idea to attack the two of them while they were cut off from the other Autobots.

They hadn't survived the foolish actions.)


	7. Chapter 7

**TIME MEASUREMENTS:**

 **Astrosecond:** .5 seconds

 **Nano-klik:** 1 second

 **Klik** : 1 minute

 **Breem:** 8 minutes

 **Cycle:** 24 hours (one day)

 **Deca-cycle:** 4 weeks (one month)

 **Mega-cycle:** 96 hours (four days)

 _ **Meta**_ **-cycle:** 12 months (one year)

 **Stellar Cycle:** 6 months

 **Vorn:** 83 years

 **Mega-vorn** : 83,000 years (1000 vorns)

 **60 mega-vorns:** 4,980,000years

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Harry woke slowly, sluggishly, and rather confused.

There was a lot of information he had not known before going to sleep in his mind. Starting with the fact that he was what was known as a 'sparkling' and a part of an alien race called 'Cybertronians' from the planet 'Cybertron.'

Apparently.

And the people- bots? - he was with referred to themselves as 'Autobots.'

He was also definitely coming around from being sedated. He knew that feeling well, and when he took in a breath, he could _smell_ the clean.

New information popped up in his head at the thought.

He was in the med bay of somewhere called 'NEST Base'. Someone- a mech- called Ratchet had taken care of him once Sunstreaker- the golden being- had taken him inside.

As soon as he thought of Sunstreaker, Harry felt a swell of panic when he did not immediately see the bot in question. He had no idea _why_ that was so, just that he absolutely did not like that he could not see the bot that had saved him.

Involuntary panicky whirrs and clicks escaped him as his eyes- optics- flew over the med bay. Before he could panic too much he was suddenly lifted off the bed- berth- and pressed close to a warm humming chassis.

Harry felt himself relax against the chassis as something in him recognized the feel of _safe-warm-protected_ he associated with the golden being- Sunstreaker he reminded himself.

When Harry turned to face the source of the warmth he blinked with surprise.

Sunstreaker was the mech that held him, but the warm servo pressing into his back and rubbing softly belonged to a bright cherry red being…

That felt like Sunstreaker?

He clicked his confusion, his optics wide and darting between the two near identical mechs.

O~O~O~

Sideswipe was right next to Sunstreaker when they heard the distressed whirrs and clicks of the sparkling. It wasn't even a thought as the twins moved in synch, rushing to get to the little bot immediately.

Sunstreaker picked the sparkling up and Sideswipe reached over to rub soothingly at the little wings.

The effect was near instant as the little bot relaxed into their hands, the distressed noises shifting to contented little purrs. The purrs cut out as the sparkling turned to stare at Sunny, only to spot Sideswipe and stare.

(Sideswipe blinked in surprise at the sight of the emerald optics. Sunstreaker hadn't been exaggerating. The mech-ling's optics were a beautiful deep shade of true emerald.)

Sideswipe could feel his amusement growing as the sparkling's gaze darted from Sunny to him and back, confused little clicks escaping as he tried to figure out what he was seeing.

It was _adorable_.

"Hey little mech-ling." He greeted the little one with a grin. "I'm Sideswipe, Sunstreaker's twin."

He saw as the sparkling's optics lit with understanding and grinned to himself. Smart bot. Sparklings were naturally very smart of course, especially compared to human children, but Sideswipe was glad to see the light of understanding in the sparkling's optics all the same. "I'm afraid we don't know your designation little one."

Ratchet took that moment to speak, pulling all their attention onto himself as he did "I, however, _do_ know the answer to that. I found it while repairing his firewalls. His designation is Shadowstrike."

O~O~O~

Harry would be unaware that, as he had passed through the veil, the voice he had heard had made some changes.

Primus very rarely interfered with what the humans of Harry's original world called the Veil of Death. In reality, the veil was a Gate of Judgement, where each person to pass was examined and judged before he or she was transported to a destination.

In Harry's case, his Animagus form had been the initial thing to pull him to Primus' attention. Once the God had seen the boy's life, and what would be if he was sent back, He could not allow it to come to pass.

He had chosen instead to interfere, and change what was into what would be.

He had ripped the soul fragment of Tom Riddle from the boy, using it to rid Harry's word of the being that called himself Lord Voldemort, and as Harry had passed from the Gate of Judgement to Primus' world, he tweaked the Animagus transformation.

He made the transformation permanent, making Harry one of his children. In choosing to do this, he had chosen the name of the sparkling, leaving it to be found in his processor even as he tweaked a few more things. He left the damage done to Harry alone, knowing those who would take care of his child would need to see the damages they would have to fix, but he did make it so that any bot that looked into Shadowstrike's- Harry's- processor would not be able to find anything relating to magic.

They may find flashes of what had happened to Harry- things like a flash of red eyes, or the sensation of flying and his complete joy at it, pain and the sight of some of the humans that had hurt him, but no direct magic. Anyone that looked into his processor would be lead to believe the little one's memory files were fragmented or corrupted in a way.

He would let Shadowstrike choose when and if to reveal what he had been.

O~O~O~

"Shadowstrike, huh? That's a good name- a strong name." Sideswipe acknowledged the name with a grin.

Sunny hummed in agreement as he snuggled the sparkling absently.

O~O~O~

Once the mech mentioned his name- Shadowstrike- Harry was surprised about how _right_ it seemed. He chirped happily at the sound of it, not sure why it seemed so right, but deciding he would keep it as his Animagus form's name.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker both giving their approval on it only made him happier. (Though he wasn't quite sure about why that was so)

He wiggled in Sunstreaker's arms, a soft little whistle escaping him as he reached for Sideswipe. He was curious about the golden being's twin. He wondered if these Cybertronian Twins were like Magical Twins- one soul split into two bodies.

Sideswipe was all too happy to pick him up and pull him close to his chassis.

Harry-Shadowstrike- reached for the armor plating on Sideswipe's chassis, using it to grip close to him and look up into blue optics. He tried to talk to him, but he was beginning to accept that he was incapable of actual words in this form.

(Considering how long the information that had been downloaded into his brain-processor- told him Cybertronian's lived, he wasn't very surprised. Even at his 17 years old, when compared to Cybertronian lifespans Harry was basically a newborn. It made sense that in this form he would only be capable of baby-babble.)

(When he thought about that it made sense why his emotions were all over the place. His Animagus form was basically a newborn with no emotional control.)

He crooned, whistled and clicked up at Sideswipe anyway, reaching out to him and focusing on the spark so close to his ear, comparing it to the feel of Sunstreaker's spark. (He took a moment to appreciate how well he had once communicated with Magic, as that skill served him well feeling out the sparks around him, and 'sensing' the feel of them.)

It was the same. Or rather it was so complimentary it could be nothing except the other half of Sunstreaker's spark.

Cybertronian Twins were like Magical Twins.

Good to know.


	8. Chapter 8

Shadowstrike eventually pulled his attention away from the twins, and turned to look at Ratchet.

He knew this bot was the Chief Medical Officer, and the bot that had taken care of him. The lack of any pain told him the medic had done an excellent job of it. He was never _not_ in some kind of pain- not even when Poppy had finished with him in the Healer's Wing, though she had tried.

He chirred reaching out towards him with one servo while still gripping Sideswipe's chassis armor with the other. He waited until Ratchet came over, and then he reached out to tap the medic's faceplates, making happy thankful chirping noises in place of the verbal words.

He saw the medic's optics soften and he murmured to him "You are welcome little one."

He chirred happily in response before he returned his attention to Sideswipe. He reached up towards the red bot's faceplates, wiggling his fingers demandingly. He knew he should be embarrassed about the rather childish behavior…but he wasn't.

It was like…he _knew_ he was a 17year-old, that he was considered an adult by wizards, in his old world. And his mind- his processor- _knew_ that but it also recognized that as a sparkling- as his Animagus form- a 17year-old was a _newborn_ and therefore he had no reason what so ever to be embarrassed about any childish motions or urges. It felt utterly and completely natural to react the way he was and Shadowstrike saw no reason what so ever to question it. Cybertronians were- for all intents and purposes- immortal. So long as the spark- the heart- was left intact and the bot had the will to keep going, Cybertronians _could_ live forever.

So he wasn't embarrassed and saw no reason to be.

Sideswipe dipped his head and brought his faceplates into servo-range and Shadowstrike took instant advantage as he carefully explored the mech's face. It was interesting and warm and Shadowstrike enjoyed it as he explored all the little pieces that made up the red mech's face.

He went still as a warm feeling swelled over his processor, something like amused fondness, and blinked-shuttered- his optics with surprise.

That wasn't his feeling.

Shadowstrike immediately turned his attention inwards, looking for the source of the feelings. He was hesitant and worried as he looked for the source, remembering the last bond he had that transferred emotions—Voldemort had not been a pleasant presence.

The amused fondness became alert and comforting, even as Harry found the source and began to follow the link.

It took him a moment to realize it was Sideswipe. He recoiled sharply for a moment, then he slowly, carefully reached out to the red mech. Sideswipe was infinitely gentle as he reached back, _peace-protection-strength_ flowing over the bond Shadowstrike had found, and he found himself relaxing into it.

It took him another moment to realize that Sideswipe was making a soft comforting crooning noise, but once he did, Shadowstrike relaxed further.

This was not like the bond with Voldemort at all. It felt natural- not slimy and dark and painful- and went two ways- felt equal and good in a way the bond to Voldemort never had. The information in his processor told him it was entirely natural and expected since his programming had chosen Sunstreaker as his Guardian- one of a set of split-spark twins- that Sideswipe would also have a Guardian Bond with him.

When Shadowstrike pulled back a little bit and went looking, he found the bond that led to Sunstreaker and followed that as well.

O~O~O~

Sideswipe had to very, very carefully control his rage when the sparkling recoiled from the feel of the Guardian Bond. He wasn't sure what the sparkling's last caretakers had been like, but he could sense over the bond as the sparkling remembered _pain-rage-suffering_ in relation to his last Bond.

The idea that someone- anyone- would use their bond with a sparkling to _hurt_ the sparkling was repulsive. He could sense the wrath that stirred in his twin as Sunstreaker monitored the interaction using his Bonds with Sideswipe and Shadowstrike and came to the same conclusion as Sideswipe had.

It took a few seconds that felt like ages before Shadowstrike carefully reached out to Sideswipe again, tentative and terrified though he tried to hide it. Sides reached back, gentle and patient as he gave the sparkling the time he needed. The sparkling followed the bond back to Sideswipe and submerged himself in Sides' half of the bond, feeling out the mech, searching his core feelings and intent though the sparkling was unaware of doing so. Sideswipe pulled on feelings of _peace-protection-strength_ allowing them to flood the bond and pour into the injured sparkling, crooning in time with it.

He was rewarded for his efforts as the little seeker relaxed in his hold, his wings settling from their tense position, and the sparkling slowly backtracked along their Bond until he was back to his half. Once the little sparkling was there, he searched and found Sunstreaker's part of the Bond, following along it to repeat the process he had gone through with Sideswipe.

O~O~O~

Sunstreaker was going to _murder_ whoever had held Shadowstrike before he found him.

Painfully.

Slowly.

Slag being an Autobot- he was feeling _very_ Gladiator about this situation. _**No**_ sparkling should ever recoil from a Guardian Bond like that. Should remember _rage-pain-suffering_ in relation to a Bond of any kind. The little seeker had been _terrified_ about having a Bond at all.

The only thing that had fixed it was Sideswipe allowing the sparkling to submerge himself in Sides' half of the bond so completely that he could sense the core of Sideswipe. Could sense that Sides would never, could never, hurt him using the Bond.

So when the little seeker reached for him as soon as he was sure of Sideswipe, Sunstreaker reached back without hesitation.

This was _**his**_ sparkling and he _**refused**_ to have the little seeker be terrified of the Guardian Bond between them. If that meant letting the seek-ling submerge himself in Sunstreaker's core, Sunny would let him.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

 **TIME MEASUREMENTS:**

 **Astrosecond:** .5 seconds  
 **Nano-klik:** 1 second  
 **Klik** : 1 minute  
 **Breem:** 8 minutes  
 **Cycle:** 24 hours (one day)  
 **Deca-cycle:** 4 weeks (one month)  
 **Mega-cycle:** 96 hours (four days)  
 _ **Meta**_ **-cycle:** 12 months (one year)  
 **Stellar Cycle:** 6 months  
 **Vorn:** 83 years  
 **Mega-vorn** : 83,000 years (1000 vorns)  
 **60 mega-vorns:** 4,980,000years


	9. Chapter 9

Ratchet watched the interactions between the three mechs in his section of the med bay in a kind of awed silence.

He wasn't sure what had happened, but the utter stillness of the twins a breem before had been all the sign Ratchet had needed to know _something_ had made them angry. The tense way the seek-ling had held his wings and his utter _stillness_ for a few klicks was also a sign that something had scared him.

Whatever it was the twins had sorted it out and now the sparkling was trying his hardest to snuggle them both at the same time. The twins were making it easier by standing as close together as they could manage.

Ratchet was a little bit surprised by how _naturally_ the twins seemed to be dealing with the seek-ling. He had known the two of them had a soft spot for sparklings- most bots did including himself- but he hadn't expected the natural talent they seemed to be displaying with the mech-ling.

So he watched the interactions with a kind of awed silence, already seeing the changes taking place in the mechs for the better.

O~O~O~

Shadowstrike was utterly relaxed pressed between the two mechs.

The bonds he shared with these bots were nothing like the one he had shared with Voldemort, and they had allowed him to explore the bonds in order to prove it. The feelings of _peace-safety-content_ that were flowing between the three of them were as far from the constant _rage-pain-suffering_ that had bombarded him from Voldemort as could be, and Shadowstrike appreciated it.

He appreciated that the twins were allowing him to be clingy as well. The sparkling urges were odd, but he had no desire to try and fight them- especially if the twins would allow him the positive contact he craved his entire human life, but _especially_ as the war had progressed and he was expected to be the 'untouchable Leader of Light' with the fall of Dumbledore. It felt _amazing_ to lean on someone else and be supported, to be able to bask in it.

Not that his friends hadn't supported him of course- they had. It was just…it was different with Sides and Sunny. His friends, no matter how they supported him, still looked to him as Leader-Protector-Tactician-Warrior. It had been habit and conditioning on both their parts, him and his friends. To be supported so utterly by the twins, by mechs he could _feel_ were Warrior-Safety-Guardian-Protectors…and not being expected to take the lead and/or be untouchable and on guard? He added the feeling of _gratitude_ to the bonds and was rewarded with the feeling of _comfort-joy_.

He could get used to this.

O~O~O~

Shadowstrike was snuggling against the both of them, utterly relaxed and projecting his feelings along the bonds that were forming between the three of them.

The twins were content to allow the sparkling to snuggle them both, pressing the sparkling between the two of them even as they met optics above the little one's head, silent words passing between them.

 _ **~He was hurt before he came to us.~**_ Sideswipe's voice was soft across their bond.

 _ **~He was.~**_ Sunstreaker agreed, the feelings _rage-anger-protective_ flowing alongside the words even as Shadowstrike was shielded from the negative emotion. _**~On purpose. Systematically.~**_

The rage over that swelled sharply on both their parts, settling only as Sideswipe spoke again, his voice calm and smooth as if talking about lunch or the color of the sky. _**~We will destroy whoever had a hand in it. No one will hurt Strike like that again.~**_

Sunny's response was nonverbal but powerful as _agreement-promise-protective_ swept over his twin. And then he smirked asking _**~Strike?~**_

Sides hummed. _**~I like it. Shadow didn't sound right. Sunny, Sides and Strike was much better.~**_

Sunny hummed back, absently stroking the wings beneath his servos, as his processor jumped tracks _**~We'll need to teach him to deal with Jet Judo when he's older.~**_

Sideswipe's agreement swept over the bond, his voice serious and firm as he answered _**~We will. No one will pull our little one out of the air without his permission.~**_ The twins were the best at it- they refused to allow their little one to get hurt that way when they could teach him to avoid it and how to throw any 'Con that tried it off before damage was caused.

It was a long way off, but the twins made the note anyway. __

They would equip their little one with the best they could give him.

(Later, much later, they would laugh about the thought anyone could pull Shadowstrike out of the air without his permission. The little seeker would cause many a mech spark-attacks with the insane stunts to come. The move Strike called a 'Wronski Feint' would be a leading cause of near-stasis.)

O~O~O~

Ratchet remained a silent observer as the little sparkling slowly fell back into recharge and the twins had a silent conversation over their Bond.

Once he was sure the sparkling was sleeping he turned his attentions to the twins. "I've repaired what damages I was able." The twins' attention snapped to him as he began speaking, keeping his voice soft so he would not wake the sparkling. "I also downloaded some basics into his processor as anything he may have had before the attack was fragmented and confused and I wasn't sure what he may or may not know. There is still the matter of any mental or emotional damages, but I was able to fix most of the physical signs of damage. Cybertronians will still see hints of where the damage was done for a while yet, while humans will be able to feel the welds, and I will need to do constant checkups on the seek-ling as he grows, but for the most part the sparkling is as damage free as I could make him."

It was a good thing. The four mechs had been locked away in Ratchet's section of the med bay for a mega-cycle while Ratchet saw to the injuries of the sparkling. Ratchet was rather hopeful that the next time the sparkling woke, Sunstreaker would allow Protocol 9-8-3 to come to an end.

He was sure the other Bots were driving themselves mad trying to figure out what had caused Ratchet to lockdown his section of the med bay after telling Jolt and First Aid that Protocol 9-8-3 was in effect at this point.

It was a good thing Ratchet had such a supply of Energon in the med bay-including fuel appropriate for sparklings- otherwise they would have had to leave to go get fuel.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

 **TIME MEASUREMENTS:**

 **Astrosecond:** .5 seconds  
 **Nano-klik:** 1 second  
 **Klik** : 1 minute **  
Breem:** 8 minutes  
 **Cycle:** 24 hours (one day)  
 **Deca-cycle:** 4 weeks (one month)  
 **Mega-cycle:** 96 hours (four days)  
 _ **Meta**_ **-cycle:** 12 months (one year)  
 **Stellar Cycle:** 6 months  
 **Vorn:** 83 years  
 **Mega-vorn** : 83,000 years (1000 vorns)  
 **60 mega-vorns:** 4,980,000years


	10. Chapter 10

Shadowstrike woke up completely content and relaxed.

He could sense the two sparks of his Guardians were close by, and he was curled up between the two of them. He felt safe and protected, and it was nice not to be forced awake for once, but allowed to surface as he wished.

It was still early, but it was _his choice_ to awaken that early and it made all the difference.

He could still smell the clean of the med bay, but he knew he hadn't been sedated this time, rather he had fallen asleep himself and was now allowed to wake on his own.

He shifted, trying to push himself up and only partially succeeding as he realized Sunstreaker had his servo wrapped around his form even in sleep.

He made a soft clicking noise as he tried to free himself, wiggling in place and not really succeeding in getting anywhere.

 _Amused-fond-joy_ rushed over him and Shadowstrike lifted green optics to see Sideswipe smiling to himself as he watched him wiggle.

He frowned at the mech, pushing _confined-exasperated-bemused_ back along his bond with the red mech and then a query for help. Sideswipe's smile grew more amused even as he carefully reached out and pulled the seeker out from beneath his twin's servo.

"Hey Strike." He greeted the little one and Harry felt warm at the nickname he was given. "Sunny's gonna be out for a while yet- you gave his systems a shock to be sure, and he only just fell into recharge, but I can keep you company until he wakes."

Strike crooned his agreement, snuggling into Sideswipe's chassis and basking in the feeling of safety. He was lifted up, high above the mech and squeaked in surprise for a moment before clicking happily at the feeling of being up high. He'd always loved it even as a human, but his Animagus form seemed to _really_ enjoy it, his instincts humming happily in his helm.

"I wonder little seeker…." Sideswipe spoke "How you will fly…?"

Shadowstrike shuttered his optics with surprise wondering for a moment how the mech in front of him had known he had been a seeker, and gone flying. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, the downloaded information from before supplied the answer.

 _He_ was called a Seeker (A seek-ling or winglet-though winglet was usually for other flyers or seekers to use- for the moment) - a born flyer- and he would be able to _fly_ one day! Under his own power, with wings!

 _Excited-Thrilled-Elated!_

Sideswipe blinked at the swell of emotion that flooded the bond he shared with the little one, a grin pulling at his faceplates as he hummed "Excited for that day hmm?"

The babble of clicks and whirs and little purrs Strike released at the question communicated the 'YES' perfectly well in place of any words. If they weren't standing in the med bay, with the sparkling just recovering from serious injuries Sideswipe would have happily played a game of Toss-And-Catch with the little one.

Instead he settled for holding onto the mech-ling and playing what the human's called 'Superman' with the little one, holding the seek-ling up high and moving him quickly through the air.

Shadowstrike squeaked and squealed with happiness as he was pulled through the air, his little wings twitching and reacting to all the air currents and changes automatically despite not being powerful enough to do anything yet.

It didn't matter that he was a seventeen-year-old human- right then he was a newborn seek-ling playing with his Guardian and loving every moment of the wind on his wings and the feelings of _Joy-Content-Playful_ that were swelling over the Bond to him from the mech.

O~O~O~

Sideswipe couldn't have wiped the wide smile of his faceplates if Primus himself had demanded it.

 _This._

 _Mech-ling._

 _Would be._

 _The death of him._

 _He was_ _ **so.**_

 _ **Slagging.**_

 _ **Cute**_ **.**

O~O~O~

Ratchet was grinning.

Oh he was going to make _**triplicates**_ of the photo-stills and the videos he was getting at this exact moment.

Then he was going to encrypt and code them all so well _Jazz_ wouldn't be able to see them- one for his Blackmail Collection and the other to keep on his person from the rest of time itself. He could decide if he was going to share any copies with anyone except Sunstreaker later.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

 **Did I mention AU? Because AU. I LOVE Jazz so he lives and that's just the start of it.**

 **TIME MEASUREMENTS:**

 **Astrosecond:** .5 seconds

 **Nano-klik:** 1 second

 **Klik** : 1 minute

 **Breem:** 8 minutes

 **Cycle:** 24 hours (one day)

 **Deca-cycle:** 4 weeks (one month)

 **Mega-cycle:** 96 hours (four days)

 _ **Meta**_ **-cycle:** 12 months (one year)

 **Stellar Cycle:** 6 months

 **Vorn:** 83 years

 **Mega-vorn** : 83,000 years (1000 vorns)

 **60 mega-vorns:** 4,980,000years


	11. Chapter 11

Shadowstrike was content to let Ratchet look him over again, sitting still and not protesting it in any way. He could feel how much his Guardians wanted to be _absolutely certain_ he was alright before any decisions were made, and he could tell how much it helped Ratchet to make sure his work was still holding.

The Bond between himself and the twins had gotten stronger and deeper as the days since his awakening passed. He couldn't explain what it meant to him to have people he _knew_ without any shadow of a doubt would love and support and help him at any given moment. He couldn't explain what it meant that he could _feel_ that willingness, and the deep endless well of acceptance and affection the two mechs had for him. So if it comforted the mechs to have another scan run over him, to let Ratchet check him over, Strike would sit still and allow another check.

The twins were perfectly aware that Shadowstrike was only sitting still and allowing the endless checks and rechecks over his frame and processor because they wanted it, and they rewarded this behavior with endless swells of _pride-gratitude-happiness_ over their bond with the seek-ling.

O~O~O~

Ratchet pulled back from the sparkling, quite proud that the twins didn't watch his every move anymore. They still watched him of course, but their optics were no longer glued to his every vent, nor did the twin not holding the sparkling move to his blind-spot to better offline him if the need arose. He was not quite labeled 'safe' by the twins' Guardian Protocols yet, but he was well on his way.

(That may have something to do with the mega-cycles he had spent locked in the med bay with the twins watching his every move while he cared for the sparkling.)

"He is as well as he can be for the moment. Regular checkups will be required of course, but for the moment I can do nothing else to improve his health."

The twins nodded in synch, Sunstreaker speaking for both of them as he replied "Thank you Ratchet- we will make sure to bring him in for all of his checkups."

Ratchet spent a moment appreciating the spoken gratitude before he set it aside. Most bots didn't say thank you verbally to Ratchet. He knew they were thankful of course, but speaking of it didn't happen. Instead most bots showed their gratitude to Ratchet through their actions.

(Things like protecting him out in the battlefield, protecting his patients on the battlefield, or getting him wrenches, or bringing him Energon, making sure he stopped his work often enough to take care of himself, covering a shift or two for him, helping with the paperwork…things of that nature)

But every once in a while, Ratchet appreciated _hearing_ the words.

"You are welcome."

There was a moment of silence as the mechs in the room stared at each other.

O~O~O~

Sunstreaker looked around the room for a moment before he vented heavily. Ratchet, his twin, and the sparkling had been in this section of the med bay for two mega-cycles with Protocol 9-8-3 in full effect for the duration of the time.

The first mega-cycle had been nothing but repair as Ratchet worked to fix the worst of the damages on the sparkling, the second had been fine-tuning those repairs, and rechecking them constantly for any signs of rejection or relapse on Shadowstrike's part. It had also been used to deepen and strengthen the Guardian Bond between the twins and the sparkling, while allowing Strike to settle into a Bond that didn't hurt him _without_ all the bots that would come to see the sparkling crowding him.

Which they _would_ and then the twins would maim them which would cause Ratchet's workload to triple at the very least because the twins were _Gladiators_ and they would be creatively vindictive about it.

There was still much to do, much ground to cover in regards to helping the sparkling recover, but Sunstreaker thought maybe it would be alright to loosen Protocol 9-8-3 and allow certain bots to know about the little one.

Not everyone- neither the twins nor Strike was ready for _everyone_ to know- but certain bots…the twins thought might be alright.

O~O~O~

"I think" Sunstreaker began "I am ready to begin introductions with certain bots" his optics darted to Sideswipe and back to Ratchet "I have discussed this with Sideswipe as well and I am willing to loosen Protocol 9-8-3. I do not want the Base to know of Shadowstrike's presence yet, but…"

Sideswipe picked up where his twin left off "Optimus, Jazz, Prowl, Ironhide and Bumblebee would be alright to begin with. Not all at once- we don't think our Guardian Protocols would be able to take even these bots at the same time, but one at a time…we think it will be alright."

O~O~O~

Strike had no idea who Optimus, Jazz, Prowl, Ironhide or Bumblebee were, but he wouldn't mind meeting new people.

The twins felt nervous and a bit anxious about showing him to anyone, but Shadowstrike could feel how much these particular mechs were trusted by his Guardians even past the jitters that came from introducing him to more bots, so he wasn't too against meeting them.

O~O~O~

Ratchet nodded at the list of bots, expecting the names he was given. It was a good start to introductions despite not being everyone.

Optimus was an obvious choice. Prowl, despite being the mech that most often busted the twins for pranks, was actually a trusted friend and-despite neither the twins nor Prowl admitting it- both saw the pranks as a challenge to each other (Could Prowl catch them? Could they pull the prank off before he did, or even get away with it completely? How long could they last before he caught them?) they were close for all that they seemed to clash. Jazz was their friend and a partner in pranking. Many a time the three of them would cover for each other, providing alibis for each other. The humans had called them the Three Musketeers more than once, and it was often the twins that went in to clear the way for Jazz to pull the more behind the scenes work. Ironhide was a trusted elder and mentor, someone they could go to when they couldn't find the answers on their own. He had taught them many things over the many, mega-vorns they had known each other and Ratchet could understand why the twins would want to bring their trusted mentor into their little secret. Bumblebee was the little brother they had never had, someone they considered family- much as they considered the other named bots- and Ratchet also knew they were taking into account that keeping a secret like _this_ would hurt the little scout.

That wasn't even considering the fact that Optimus was their leader and would need to know, Prowl was the Head Tactician and would most likely put everything together on his own and he would need to know for strategies, Jazz was their best friend and head of Special Ops and would most likely figure them out within a cycle without any input what so ever from anyone. Ironhide would just _know_ somehow- in that way all authority figures seemed to just _know_ what had happened to their charges, or he would see all the signs of Active Guardian Protocols and confront them which would be messy. Bumblebee would weasel his way into knowing everything anyway- being one of Special Ops Elite Spy-Scouts and very, very good at getting bots to slip and spill things to him. He looked so very innocent after all- what would be the harm in telling the scout?

The fact that each of these bots considered each other and the twins to be close family meant that none of them would rest until they had figured out what had changed anyway, and it would be better in the long run for everyone to just bring them in from the start anyway. The twins' views on family would demand they tell them anyway. One did not lie about large things like taking a sparkling into their midst when speaking to family.

As Gladiators all they had _had_ was family. Credits were very limited and material things meant nothing and so were not gathered or kept. Family though- that had been _**everything**_. When the credits had been short, and the lunar cycle long, when they had been injured or hungry with no way to fix the issue all they had had was each other. Family was _sacred_.

"I can inform them to come to the med bay now?" Ratchet offered, knowing better than to call in any bot without informing the twins about it at this stage in their Guardian Protocols. They had just activated two mega-cycles ago and none of the bots in question had seen the bots since then much less been designated 'safe' at this point by said Protocols.

Inviting any bot in unannounced at this point would likely get said bots offline or mauled.

There was silence for a klick before the twins looked at one another and back to Ratchet nodding once.

"Go ahead."

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

 **TIME MEASUREMENTS:**

 **Astrosecond:** .5 seconds

 **Nano-klik:** 1 second

 **Klik** : 1 minute

 **Breem:** 8 minutes

 **Cycle:** 24 hours (one day)

 **Deca-cycle:** 4 weeks (one month)

 **Mega-cycle:** 96 hours (four days)

 _ **Meta**_ **-cycle:** 12 months (one year)

 **Stellar Cycle:** 6 months

 **Vorn:** 83 years

 **Mega-vorn** : 83,000 years (1000 vorns)

 **60 mega-vorns:** 4,980,000years


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay really quick:**

 _~This is comm to comm speech~_ **however**

 _ **~This is speech over a Bond~**_

 **I WILL cover what exactly happened to Strike/Harry's magic at some point, and I have decided to stop mentioning the Time Measurements in the Author's notes. Hopefully y'all know them or if not can come back to check them in the previous chapters. Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate as I do!**

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

 _~Ratchet to Optimus~_

Optimus straightened up immediately at the comm. He had known klicks after the twins had barreled into Ratchet's domain about Protocol 9-8-3 going into effect. Two mega-cycles later- eight earth days- and this was the first sign of contact from any of the three bots that had locked down Ratchet's section of the med bay.

Which meant whatever had been discussed in that time was important.

 _~Optimus here. Report Ratchet.~_

Ratchet went silent for a nano-klick before he spoke again _~Protocol 9-8-3 is still in effect, but has been loosened. I need you to come to med bay. Everything will be explained then.~_

Optimus went still. For the Protocol to only be loosened meant that it was still in full effect, but new bots had to be brought in and up to speed. Whatever had Sunstreaker barreling into base and careening into Ratchet's med bay had to be **big**.

 _~On my way.~_

O~O~O~

Shadowstrike was picked up as soon as Ratchet called to the first of the bots- Optimus Prime- and immediately cradled into Sideswipe's chassis. He was not bundled into Side's Sparkling Chamber, but Sideswipe still backed closer to the wall where no bot could get behind him. Shadowstrike was then cradled in such a way that he was entirely shielded, and could not see, while Side's other arm was left loose and ready to attack or defend.

Shadowstrike was unable to see it, but he could sense as Sunstreaker moved in front of Sideswipe, and lowered his center of gravity to almost-but-not-quite crouch in front of the two of them.

Sunstreaker's servos were free and slightly curved ready to lash out or defend against any threat. Prepared to drop his swords out of subspace while his stance would allow him a wide range of movement for whatever would happen. He _knew_ Optimus would offline before he harmed a sparkling of course, but the twins could no more help the defensive protective reactions then Earth could help that the grass was green or the sky was blue.

What they _knew_ to be truth had nothing to do with what their subroutines-what the humans would call _instincts_ \- demanded of them.

O~O~O~

Optimus was permitted into the med bay and went still. Ratchet was the one to let him in while the twins were the furthest from the door as they could be. Their armor was bristling and rattling lightly in a very clear nonverbal Cybertronian warning that was mimicked by the low toned rumbling of their engines and the white tinge that was bleeding into the outer edges of their optics.

Optimus had no idea what had set them off, but he was experienced enough to see they were shielding something between them and it was his entrance that had caused the reaction- a reaction that was a part of a subroutine and thus done without any thought.

He stopped moving immediately.

The next step was slowly lowering himself to a sitting position as he kept his optics on the twins and lifted his arms to cross them at the wrist in front of his body.

Ratchet rechecked the room for security purposes before the soundproofing-which had been shut off to open the door- was turned back on while this was happening.

The twins went still blinking and staring at Optimus who had immediately placed himself in a vulnerable position and crossed his wrists in a nonverbal Cybertronian promise of nonviolence.

When Ratchet came back from ensuring the room was secure, he placed himself in his chair and waited.

O~O~O~

Shadowstrike was very curious. He could feel how _protective-wary_ the twins were about Optimus knowing about him, but he could also sense how much his Guardians trusted the mech, that they _wanted_ to tell him, and how they were trying to work around their instincts (the new data in his head called them 'subroutines') to allow him close.

The moment the mech sat down and crossed his wrists, the twins settled a little, their instincts calming enough that they could straighten up out of their defensive positions.

 _Curious-Happy-Safe._

Shadowstrike projected these feelings and the utter confidence he had in the twins to keep him safe. He figured it could only help them at this point.

It took a few minutes more, but the twins eventually shifted forward, towards their leader, taking Shadowstrike with them.

Sunny stopped first, venting deeply before he spoke "When I was out…I found something…that shouldn't have been possible."

Optimus tilted his helm in question, making no other movements and keeping his wrists crossed as he waited for the golden mech to expand on his words. "What did you find?"

It took the mech another klick or two before he very slowly, and deliberately moved slightly to the side exposing Sideswipe's left side to Optimus without moving from in front of his twin.

Optimus turned his optics to what he could see of the red twin. His left servo was curled over his spark and he was clearly displaying signs Optimus recognized as protective programing though he wasn't sure what would be causing it. He made a low thrumming noise in his throat, a sound no human would have been able to hear, but all Cybertronians would recognize as a sign of curiosity.

What Optimus had _**not**_ expected was a soft, higher pitched thrum to be returned. A kind of noise he had not heard in… _ **mega-vorns**_. In fact, the last time he had heard _that_ particular pitched thrum had been when he was raising a little mech on Cybertron who would go on to be one of his best and brightest in Bumblebee.

He went utterly, and completely still, his vents stalling even as his processor threatened to crash.

The twins went utterly still in turn and Sunstreaker was back in front of his twin immediately, his armor bristling protectively even as Optimus sat frozen on the floor.

"You found—" Optimus gasped before he stopped "It is a—" he began again before his glossa seemed to grow too heavy in his mouth-plates, and he could not bring himself to voice what he thought the sound may have come from.

It couldn't be possible. They had died- all of them- in a terrible accident not planned by either side of the war.

Except Sunstreaker slowly- so achingly slowly- moved back to the side. And equally slowly, both the twins' optics burning into Optimus as if they were weighing his spark, Sideswipe first lowers his servo and then uncurls it.

Optimus _sways_.

It is like watching a flower of Earth bloom. The little one uncurls slow and so, _so_ graceful though the mech-ling is unaware yet that he is so. The wings on the midnight-blue and silver seeker lift from his back-plates and unfurl like pedals reaching for the sun, large and one day to be powerful. And then the little mech's helm lifts up and Optimus gets his first look at the mech's optics and _oh_ —

Green.

Emeralds and the forest, the colors of _**life**_ and _**rebirth**_ on this planet.

Optimus feels like Primus himself has a grip on his spark and for an instant he wonders if this is what the organics feel like when they have stayed under water too long and they _can't breathe_ —

Or perhaps this is the feeling of _**hope**_. So fragile and yet one of the most…stubborn and _powerful_ feelings any being can feel next to love, and a feeling Optimus has not _**truly**_ felt since his days on Cybertron when the war was still young—

Optimus' processor stalls and crashes and the large mech goes tumbling to the ground. In the last fraction of a second that his mind is still functioning before the crash all Optimus can think is that he is glad he had already been sitting on the floor.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

 **DO YOU GUYS KNOW HOW PROUD I AM OF THAT LAST BIT RIGHT THERE?! Optimus' reaction is beautiful and I love how it came out. Hopefully the others will work as beautifully with me.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Err…this last bit gets kind of…well.**

 **Talk of a major Disaster, death and recovery efforts so be** _ **careful**_ **because for first responders that is** _ **not always pretty.**_

 _ **Sometimes no one wins.**_

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

The twins stared.

Shuttered their optics.

Stared some more.

Then they turned to Ratchet as if asking if Optimus Prime had really just crashed in the med bay floor.

Ratchet sighed. It was to be expected.

Many, many mega-vorns had passed since the tragedy that took the youth sectors of Cybertron and alongside it all the sparklings and younglings of their race. Neither Autobot nor Decepticon had wanted the death of the young ones and so all the sparklings and younglings they could find had been moved to the youth sectors so they could be safe and away from any battles. The youth sectors had been a sort of Neutral Ground where both factions would act to ensure the No Violence rule. Young were treasured and precious to all Cybertronians and both Autobot and Decepticon would and _**had**_ reacted to keep the youth sectors safe from all harm over the course of the war, even working together to achieve this in cases where it was necessary.

They had not counted on the damage to Cybertron itself being an issue.

The war had ravaged much of their planet at this point, destroying much of things they should never had touched to begin with. The end result was the equivalent of what humans called an 'earthquake' that had completely _**devastated**_ the youth sector. Nothing and no one had been left standing.

Ratchet would remember the twisted and broken bodies of the little ones for the rest of his life, alongside the bodies of the adults that had tried to shield or prevent the destruction for the young. It was complete and utter destruction. He had looked for survivors anyway, praying for anyone to have survived the devastation.

No one had.

That loss had destroyed many a mech and femme in both factions not only because it was a horrifying loss, but because Sires and Carriers alike had placed _their own_ little ones in the sectors because they should have been safe.

It hadn't been, and those who had little ones of their own had felt their terror and pain as they off-lined in the destruction. The 'earthquake' had been sudden and violent. Any subtle tremors in the ground would have been put off as another battle somewhere outside the youth sectors- it had happened before, battles so large and powerful that even far from the sectors as the battles were the ground had shaken under pede. The fact that Cybertron had never before suffered from an 'earthquake' meant that no one knew what was about to happen until it had been much too late as the ground ripped open under-pede and buildings collapsed, as the smelting pit that _should_ have been a safe distance away from the sectors used for disposal ruptured and the Cybertronian equivalent of lava was flung in all directions.

The mechs that had died because of the smelt had been the worst, Ratchet remembered. Always- _always_ \- it had been because the adult had been trapped by the buildings or destroyed landscape, either the land impassible or their frames broken in the chaos so entirely they could not escape…but the worst had been the sparklings.

Too little, not _strong enough_ to get out, incapable of flight…the sparklings caught in the burning smelt…

Ratchet would _**never forget**_ as both Autobot and Decepticon alike worked beside each other, faction loyalties and views set aside as they franticly prayed and hoped that there would be survivors _somewhere in the mess_ …

Sometimes they would find a bot or youngling who hadn't died immediately…but the injuries had always been too severe, or the bot in question would simply _stop_ , their spark no longer wishing to continue on in the face of so much violent loss the likes of which the younglings had never seen, shielded from the war as they were, and so it _didn't_ …

It had been such a blow to both sides the war had _stopped_ for a vorn as they mourned. There had been bots that had dropped their factions after this disaster- becoming Neutrals so that they would not have to fight again beyond defending themselves.

Bumblebee had been the last of the sparklings, surviving the destruction only because he had not been present at the sight, but many cities over, a little scraplet fierce and determined to survive, born outside of the sectors and on his way there when the destruction happened. He had lost his creators on the journey over, and was a vicious _creative_ little mech in his quest to survive without creators to guide him, and the knowledge the sectors were gone as the outcry traveled across the sectors and into the cities. Ratchet was sure the time Bumblebee was on his own had certainly helped him to develop the skills that would make him such an excellent Spy and Scout.

Optimus had been the one to find and take in the little mech, the one that formed a Guardian Bond with him, and raised him as his own until the little mech had entered his adult frame and chosen to follow Optimus in the war.

It had been over 60 mega-vorns since Bumblebee had entered his adult frame, the only sparkling to be found after the destruction of the sectors despite how both factions had searched.

Bee had been considered a sparkling and then a youngling for millions of mega-vorns when the time was added together. Cybertronians had not started actually _counting_ the mega-vorns since a sparkling was born until Bumblebee entered his adult frame and so was no longer considered a sparkling or youngling.

It had been 60 mega-vorns, almost five _million_ Earth years, since the scout had been considered an adult and the last sparkling of Cybertron.

If the bots were to count the time that Bee had lived as a youngling and sparkling when considering how long a sparkling- an honest _new_ life- had been born to the Cybertronian race…it would be billions more Earth years, mega-vorns upon mega-vorns, a truly incomprehensible time to humans and a _long_ time to even a Cybertronian since a sparkling had graced their presence.

Until now.

It was no surprise the Prime had crashed at the sight of the little seeker.

Shadowstrike was an impossibility. Not only was he a _sparkling_ , but a sparkling found on _Earth_ eons after the Cybertronian race had thought their children wiped from existence, and impossibly young at the same time, the equivalent of a minutes old newborn when comparing Human and Cybertronian life-cycles.

Shadowstrike was a miracle, what the humans would call a 'castle in the air', and he would be so, _**so**_ cherished as the first sign of life continuing on in eons. Ratchet expected many crashes to happen in the future- Optimus was just the first in a soon to be long line.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

 **We will be back to out regularly scheduled fluff next chapter. I have NO IDEA what happened here- Ratchet grabbed the reins, yanked them away and hit me in the face with a wrench every time I went 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING' and tried to take them back.**

 **He wanted to explain** _ **exactly**_ **how big a deal it was that a sparkling even existed** _ **at all**_ **and how** _cherished_ **Shadowstrike will be. Like. This is** _ **huge**_ **to Cybertronians as a whole.**


	14. Chapter 14

Optimus came online slowly, and with his helm throbbing.

 _Oh_ it had been a long while since he had suffered a crash. He kept his optics offline, not moving as he tried to figure out what had sent him crashing to…the…

 _ **The sparkling!**_

Optimus jerked into a sitting position in the berth he had been moved to, his optics coming online even as he sat up, and he quickly scanned the room. A chorus of loudly snarling engines jerked his optics straight onto the twins as they shielded the little one between them.

They knew Optimus was not- would not- move to harm the sparkling, but the abrupt way he had jerked up after coming online had pulled the warning noise out of them both without thought as their Guardian Protocols snarled.

O~O~O~

Optimus remembered how powerful the Guardian Programing had been when it activated with Bumblebee and instantly went still, his wrists crossing in a promise of nonviolence. He would not push the Gladiator Twins in regards to this- he understood how large a show of trust it was that he was being allowed to attempt to be labeled 'safe' by the Guardian Protocols at all.

He remembered a time near the beginning of his own Guardianship of Bumblebee he had tried to behead Ratchet.

Ratchet who had known him long before he had become a Prime at all. A bot he trusted with his life, who had been his friend and comrade for mega-vorns of time. He knew it had nothing to do with what they knew to be facts- it had to do with subroutines.

It had been an accident, but Ratchet had still bent without thought to pick up Bumblebee when the mech-ling had fallen and injured himself. Even then he had been a Medic and it had been habit and want to fix the little one that had him lifting the wailing sparkling up off the floor to treat him.

Optimus had rounded the corner already with his Guardian Protocols on high from their newness as well as the pain he could feel coming from Bumblebee.

Seeing a mech his Guardian Protocols had not deemed 'safe' over his _injured sparkling_?

Optimus hadn't even had a chance to realize it was _Ratchet_ over Bumblebee before he was moving, his Programs screaming to remove the threat. It had been a near miss as Ratchet sensed the killing blow aimed for his neck and rolled away, taking Bumblebee with him automatically as he hadn't realized it was Optimus at the time. When he turned to face the threat only to realize it was Optimus in a full Guardian Rage Ratchet had cursed sharply and creatively as he immediately placed Bumblebee on the ground. Holding onto Bumblebee past that point would only have made it worse, especially as his first move- done without thought as it was- after Optimus had found his injured sparkling was to pick him up and move him away from Optimus.

Ironhide and Jazz had been the mechs to bring Optimus down to the ground and pin him long enough for Ratchet to bring Bumblebee right up to Optimus and place the mech-ling on his back-plates. Optimus had gone completely still from his previous attempts to escape, not wanting to accidently fling Bee away, and calming a bit now that his sparkling was touching him and clicking happily. Optimus had calmed by the time Bee stopped playing on his back and slid down on his own, allowing Ironhide and Jazz to release him.

O~O~O~

The engines stopped snarling slowly, the noise dying down though their armor still bristled warningly. Optimus kept his optics on the two of them, not even glancing at the little seeker in Sideswipe's arms despite wanting to do so. He would wait and allow the mechs the chance they needed to settle before anything- he knew how much he had wished for the same while dealing with his Guardian Protocols.

His patience was rewarded as the seek-ling clicked and cooed up at the two mechs cradling him, attempting to lean around the two of them and peek at Optimus. The sparklings obvious lack of fear and equally obvious curiosity eventually saw the twins allowing the seek-ling a clear view of Optimus and by extension allowing Optimus to get his first good look at the little one.

He was going to be a powerful little flier.

O~O~O~

Shadowstrike leaned around the twins, hoping to get a good look at the mech they called Optimus. He hadn't really seen much of anything apart from colors- red and blue- in regards to the mech because of the twins' twitchy reactions and constant shielding behaviors.

The moment the twins moved so he could see Optimus clearly for the first time, Strike's optics flew wide with surprise.

The mech was _huge!_

A low impressed whir escaped his control even as his wings arched and quivered in surprise. He had thought the twins were tall, but Optimus was bigger than them. He stared at Optimus, then turned to look at the twins, then down at himself.

Would he get that big?

It would be…odd to be tall. He could very well end up the smallest of the bots and he would still feel really tall when compared to the five foot nothing his human body had topped out at thanks to his treatment in his formative years.

He heard the low chuckle and his optics darted up and back to Optimus. He clicked at him curiously. "It has been a long while since I've seen that reaction to myself." The mech answered his silent question.

A long time?

A low toned noise of curiosity escaped him, a completely instinctive noise mimicking the one Optimus had released earlier that he had responded to.

Optimus blinked, his optics brightening with feeling at such a _missed_ sound. "That is a story for another time little one- just know it has been a long time."

Shadowstrike clicked at him, his face-plates twisting to mimic a pout without his conscious thought.

Optimus smiled down at the little one's reaction.

Shadowstrike could feel the defensive-protective feelings the twins were projecting at him lighten a little with amusement. He relaxed cooing automatically up at the twins before turning back to Optimus.

Shadowstrike…wasn't sure how to explain it…but…

There was something about this tall mech that relaxed him. A vibe that poured off of him that _**screamed**_ Warrior-Protector-Safe to Strike. He crooned low and pleased, in time with the pulse of the feeling he could pick up.

O~O~O~

Ratchet's optics went wide as he stared at the mech-ling.

It had taken him a moment to realize what the little one was crooning too. It wasn't just a random sparkling-noise. The seek-ling was _hearing_ something. The pulse of Optimus' spark. He was listening to the pulse of a Prime and he could _**hear it**_.

He could _hear_ the pulse in a proper Prime's spark that offered protection and safety and welcome to all.

Ratchet had not seen a Sensitive in… _ages_.

He saw the moment Optimus realized what exactly the sparkling was crooning in time too, and what it meant that he could hear it.

Optimus' optics went wide, and the bot went still- even the motions and noises of venting going still.

O~O~O~

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had always known Optimus was a Prime. They had always known they were welcomed by him, that he was a protector by nature, a nurturer, a Warrior of a different sort to their own. A Prime.

They had known these things, and it was part of the reason they had given themselves over to him- become Autobots.

But they had not _realized_ what that meant. They could not _feel_ the very nature of a Prime's spark and all the responsibility- the weight- that came with it.

Shadowstrike _could_ , and through their Bond with the sparkling, the twins could- for the first time- _feel_ the call and pulse of Warrior-Protector-Nurturer that the Prime gave off with every beat of his spark.

Something in their Guardian Protocols eased and clicked.

The bots in the room were unaware of it, but it was an instinctive reaction. A program worked into their very spark. A Prime was meant to be the ultimate Protector-King-Guide of his people. A Prime was meant to be the first and last line of defense for his people.

In Ancient times- when more than one Prime lived at a time- the Cybertronians would often separate into Clans. They would choose their Prime and follow them across the world as a Nomadic Peoples, meeting up once every vorn to mix Clans and speak to one another sorting out any issues or wishes.

For Guardians…the Prime was an extra protector of their young while out on a rugged, undeveloped, city-less Cybertron. For a Prime there was no greater thing then the survival of their People and especially the next generation.

And in their very cores, in their sparks, their souls, they _knew_ this.

As Cybertron developed and grew, Primes dying out, and walls and buildings went up, that unspoken understanding died with them. Cybertronians forgot those wild days living off the land and working together in what their Earthen friends would call 'Packs'- as wolves would- when they would need their 'Alpha'-their Prime- to help care for the young in the wilds of their home.

They forgot how to _feel_ the pulse of their Prime that called to them with every beat, that promised safety and welcome and the promise of nurturing protection.

That told them in the deepest parts of their core being their Prime would protect and keep safe their 'Pack' until the day their spark beat its last. The knowing that allowed Guardian Protocols to identify the Prime as Alpha-Safe-Protector.

As Shadowstrike shared this feeling with the twins, shared this spark-deep _knowing_ straight to their sparks through his own…the twins Guardian Protocols shifted and clicked as the Cybertronians of Old had done for ages.

Optimus was Prime.

He was Alpha.

He was Safe-Nurturer-Protector and he would not- could not- harm their sparkling.

They relaxed, opening their servos and striding forward to allow Optimus and up close look at the sparkling they were welcoming into their 'pack'.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

 **-sigh- It ran away with me. Again. That's okay- I like how this turned out. As for Shadowstrike being Sensitive- able to feel the core of a bot, sensitive to their very sparks and beings- It is tied to his magic and what happened to it when he changed worlds.**

 **Enjoy~**


	15. Chapter 15

Shadowstrike enjoyed being allowed to see and touch the large bot the others called Optimus Prime. He felt sheltered with him. It was in a different way then he felt with his twins. It was not less or more- just different.

He had felt the instant the twins deemed Optimus 'safe' with him. It had been an almost-but-not-quite-audible click across their bond. It had been in the way the twins relaxed, the way their armor settled against their bodies. The way their engines went from an almost-snarl to a soft purr.

The way they allowed Optimus close to him.

He was allowed to bask in this feeling of utter safety, his wings low and relaxed as he purred softly, leaning into gentle servos.

After a few moments- kliks- Ratchet approached slowly, hands open and in view, eyes up and focused on the twins. Shadowstrike watched the medic walk over to his guardians, noticing as Optimus passively tracked the medic as well.

"Shall I bring another in to meet the little one?"

A moment of silence, a wash of feelings and words quickly exchanged over the Bonds between the twins, before they nodded once at Ratchet. When Optimus made a move to leave the room, though he appeared very reluctant to do so, Sunstreaker made a sharp low toned noise that instantly had Optimus stopping.

Shadowstrike recognized the noise through his new understanding of Cybertronian Instincts. The noise was basically a nonverbal negative noise, that meant 'Stop' or 'No' depending on the situation it was used.

"Don't go anywhere." Sunstreaker's voice was strong, and Sideswipe picked up the sentence for his twin once he fell silent.

"We…you are safe. You will help us keep Strike safe. We…know we need to introduce him to everyone, but…we don't _want_ to. It makes us" Sideswipe paused before making a low-toned almost whine-like noise that conveyed _nervous-unhappy-jittery_. "So we would appreciate the back up on this- someone our subroutines don't scream about in the same room that we _know_ is safe."

Optimus dipped his helm towards them "I will stay if you wish. I did not think it would be appreciated."

Sunstreaker nodded firmly for the both of them, before he turned to Ratchet "Bring Jazz in next."

O~O~O~

Jazz had no idea what had caused the Med Bay to go on lock down. All he knew was Protocol 9-8-3 had gone into full effect, was still in effect, and had been extended to include Optimus.

It was driving him _nuts_. He thrived on knowing everything everybody else wanted to know. He was head of Special Ops, it was literally in his job description to know things before everyone else. In short Jazz was irrepressibly curious.

And he _couldn't_ go looking for answers. Protocol 9-8-3 was serious, and he hadn't been present or called in when it went into effect. He knew better than to go poking around during a Protocol before he was called in.

Even if it had to be serious to still be in effect, and pull the Big Mech in on it.

 _~Ratchet to Jazz~_

Jazz perked up without one ounce of his sudden interest showing outwardly.

 _~Jazz here~_ He kept his voice steady and serious, aware from the Medic's tone alone that this was a serious and important com.

 _~Report to Med Bay. You're being pulled into Protocol~_

Jazz rose smoothly to his pedes, looking for all the world as if he had just decided to move and had no other reason for rising. No one looked twice at him. No one saw his sudden worry. As curious as he was, to be called in without Protocol going down, meant it was very, very serious. He was head of Special Ops. The things he got called in on tended to be…not pretty and generally places- to quote the humans- angels feared to tread.

Even as he casually made his way towards the Med Bay, Jazz was mentally preparing himself, his Battle Systems not engaged, but prepped, and his Battle Computer up and running. If he was about to get sent out, he would be ready.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

 **I keep getting complaints about the chapter length, so I will say this again. This is my DRABBLE COLLECTION. I mentioned it in the summary, which means SHORT CHAPTERS. I get you want longer chapters- but that's not how I write this one. Sorry if that makes you unhappy, but its how this one works for me.**

 **Otherwise- a little late- Happy New Years!**


	16. Chapter 16

When Jazz slid inside the Med Bay, his optics focused immediately on Optimus and the Gladiator Twins across the room even as Ratchet reapplied the security measures behind him. He kept his frame relaxed, and his armor flat and nonthreatening despite the feel in the air.

Optimus was serious. The kind of serious that meant he was Projecting. When Primes Projected they took that aura they carried, and pressed it against those around them. It was rare that Optimus saw the need to assert himself that way, as he had worked with his bots so long that it was unnecessary.

Jazz reacted immediately to the aura of _assertive-protective-demanding_ Optimus was Projecting, his subroutines kicking into high gear as he dropped to one knee, a fisted servo bracing his frame as he bowed to his Alpha.

The bowed position put him in a vulnerable place, exposing his neck and making fast responses difficult. The reaction was another carry-over from the Wandering Days, from before the Cities. Something programmed into subroutines. Jazz placing himself into a kneeling position was a nonverbal way to acknowledge his Alpha Prime, and a show of trust on his part.

Jazz didn't like putting himself into positions of vulnerability. As head of Special Ops, he especially did not like it. Granted, with most mechs, Jazz could and had put himself into such a position to lure someone close enough he could spring out of it and pull or prank- or, the deadlier option, sink his servo through a spark chamber using the momentum of the lunge from kneeling position.

Either way, Jazz had knelt, and stayed there until Optimus let up on his Projecting a bit. He rose up, turning to look at the Gladiator Twins. He took immediate note of their tenseness, their shielding behaviors, and the very real threat portrayed in their body language and the low snarl of their engines. His processor ran through hundreds of possible reasons for it, for Optimus' reaction, and what Ratchet would have been present for, and why despite their mutual trust, the Twins were still having this particular reaction.

There were not many reasons Jazz could come up with when he could see both twins were present and not the cause of the other's reaction.

"What happened?" the question was soft, his accent absent in the face of the serious situation. "Do I need to prep?"

"No" Optimus was the one to answer him, his voice steady "Sunstreaker found something while he was out two mega-cycles ago."

"Before Protocol went into effect" Jazz acknowledged.

"Yes." Optimus agreed. "what they found…" Jazz watched the way Optimus' armor rattled in a way that showed his shock, and found he was equally curious and worried.

He turned to the Twins, asking softly "What did you find?"

Rather than words, Sunstreaker moved to the side, and Sideswipe slowly allowed his servo to come into view.

Jazz sat down on the closest berth. "Oh" he whispered, lifting his visor, so he could look at the little miracle optic to optic. "Oh _hello_." He ignored the way his armor had rattled with his own shock, unable to control the response his awed surprise was so great. He hadn't considered _this_ in all the situations that had run through his processor.

It had been a possibility Jazz dismissed, thanks to the Cataclysm Event that had taken out the Youth Sector, and the sheer impossibility of a sparkling on _Earth._ Even with the Allspark spending years on the planet, none of the humans would have known how to care for a sparkling well enough for them to survive even _if_ the Allspark had sparked a little one into being in the first place.

Except there was, apparently, a sparkling on Earth.

He scanned over the little one that was staring at him with interest and curiosity. And then he did it again. And then a third time. The fourth was slow and deliberate, the furrow between his optic-ridges deepening. Very slowly his awed shock bled into horror and then rage. There was an instant where Jazz's armor seemed to heave on his form.

He was very aware of what the twins- who were running on Guardian Protocols- would do to him if his armor mantled aggressively as it wanted to do, so he fought desperately to keep it flat and smooth against his frame. The result was an odd heaving, shivery motion across his frame as he hissed the soft question "Why are there marks of _torture_ on a _**sparkling**_?"

He noticed the aggressive revs of the twins' engines- having been a background warning noise until that point- spiking angrily. Jazz was a mech that had been on the warfront longer then the Earth had existed. More than that, he was Special Ops Commander, and Third in Command. He was a mech that had survived the streets of Cybertron in his youngling-hood, a mech that had taken a turn or ten in the Black Market Fighting Rings when credits were short in his adulthood.

Jazz knew _intimately_ what deliberate marks of pain looked like. He had some permanent scarring of his own from a few missions gone bad. He _knew_ what he was seeing as he scanned over the tiny seeker in Sideswipe's servo, was perfectly aware of each and every place Ratchet had healed, and the longer he looked the more options for the causes of the mech-ling's injuries came to his processor.

Jazz was completely and utterly furious in a way very few had ever seen. The last time Jazz had been this angry, Bee had had gone on a mission and come back minus a voice.

Bee had gone in to scout for information. It was supposed to be a quick easy mission. Instead, Bee had stumbled on a major planning session, with all the Decepticon major players present- including Megatron. It was an opportunity Bee couldn't walk away from. It would have gone fine even then, if he hadn't been picked up by Soundwave and reported.

Bee had fought viciously to get out of the Base with the information he had, made it out of the Base, and probably would have gotten away…if Megatron hadn't interfered. Megatron had gotten ahold of the scout's throat, was going to kill him, but Bee was determined and creative. One of Jazz's _best_ operatives. He set off a controlled explosion right in Megatron's face-plates. The mech had dropped him, off the side of a cliff and thought him offline.

Bee had made it back to his extraction team, and through them made it back home for Ratchet to save.

Jazz had walked out shortly after Bee had gone under Ratchet's servos and wiped out the entire stronghold of Decepticons off the map as well as another two just to make a point before he came back.

This…this was different. _This_ was worse. Bumblebee was trained to deal with situations like that, knew how to respond to them, how to hold himself together.

A sparkling had _none_ of that.

Jazz keened softly, furious and upset in a way no words could express.

Optimus reacted instantly, locking his arms around Jazz's frame and picking him up. He took his Third into the Ratchet's office after getting a nod from the Medic so Jazz could destroy some things without the twin's trying to offline him. It was also the reason Optimus toted the smaller mech towards the office, as he would have had to walk past the twins to get to it, and in his state Optimus didn't think Jazz would have managed it.

Partly because Jazz would want to touch and check the sparkling and partly because the twins would have demolished Jazz for trying when he was so furious and twitchy.


	17. Chapter 17

Shadowstrike warbled in curiosity at the sight of the silver mech with a piece of crystal over his optics. For a moment, he wondered if the mech was blind, but that thought was dispelled as he reached up and lifted the visor away from his optics and stared at him with bright blue amazed, perfectly functioning, optics.

Strike watched the small mech- and he was absolutely tiny when compared to the other bots in the room despite towering over Strike himself- stare at him like he was a miracle. His wings twitched a little as he shifted under the stare.

After the third look over, slower and more deliberate, Shadowstrike knew he was picking something up off his frame. The fourth look over only confirmed it, especially as the mech's armor shuddered over his form and he hissed "Why are there marks of _torture_ on a _**sparkling**_?"

He could feel the _protective-fury-distressed_ feelings that swelled over the new Bonds with Sunstreaker and Sideswipe in time with the furious snarls of their engines.

But he was a little distracted, as his processor brought up the memories of how he received some of the scars this mech could see. A few were from his time with the Dursley's, but most were from his Hogwarts years. The War hadn't been pleasant, had left its marks across his body, had dragged on with him at the very front, expected to lead and save them all, and he knew his body had reflected that- his status as a frontline general.

His keen rose and mixed with Jazz's keen, and even as Optimus toted the small mech away, Shadowstrike found himself bundled between two sparks, sheltered and soothed, as the twins frantically tried to figure out what had happened.

Their Bonds with him were flooded with their worry, the determination to fix the problem, a frantic sense of questioning even as they asked him what was wrong.

"Was it Jazz?" Sideswipe's voice washed over him, protective and plotting, and Shadowstrike shook his head firmly in the negative.

He spent a moment trying to figure out how to explain when he had no voice to do it with, before he reached out for a servo. Sunstreaker's servo was instantly in front of him, and Strike grabbed the smallest digit of the mech, pulling it forward and carefully extending his arm out.

He paused for a moment as he realized he couldn't show what he meant to the mech, when even Sunny's smallest finger was huge compared to his arm. He huffed, instead trailing his own servos over the mark on his arm where Peter had taken his blood for the ritual in fourth year. The scar was mostly gone thanks to Ratchet, but his armor was still slightly raised to his advanced eyes, so he knew the twins could see it too. The next thing he trailed his own digits over was the back of his own servo, carefully tracing out the place where _I must not tell lies_ had resided before Ratchet had completely removed it during repairs. As he did this he projected _remembrance-pain-sadness_.

He felt the twins stop, knew for an instant their processors stalled, before their focus came back onto him, Sunny's voice soft and void of the utter and complete fury Strike could feel he felt at those who had harmed him "You were remembering…the… _people_ …" Shadowstrike knew Sunny wanted to use a very different term for his tormentors and managed to feel a little amused by it "who hurt you."

He nodded once, chirping his agreement. He saw three separate servos clench into fists as Ratchet, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe all fought the urge to destroy things.

His optics jerked to the office Optimus has placed Jazz inside when the large mech spoke from his place in front of the office door, the only sign of the Prime's anger over what had happened to Shadowstrike being the way his already deep voice deepened further and darkened at the edges. "Do you…remember… often?"

Strike stared at the Prime, his emerald optics darkening before he lowered them to the floor, a near invisible nod his only answer. Armor creaked under the strain of the bots' clenched fists in response, and Shadowstrike shifted in place.

The only reason he doesn't flinch when two servos brush comfortingly over his back-struts is because he senses the twins' intent before they move to touch him. Instead he leans back into their servos, taking in comfort and giving it in equal measure.

It takes a breem before Optimus moves out from in front of the door, and the twins turn their attentions to it. The door opens slowly, and the small mech- Jazz- steps out slowly, his armor flat and servos open and crossed at the wrists.

Shadowstrike is allowed to observe the mech from his place in his Caretaker's servos. He tilts his helm, humming curiously as he takes in the mech. Jazz turns to face him, and despite his optics being covered, Strike knows he is looking him in the optic.

He appreciates that the bots all seem to do that- meet his optics- and he clicks a greeting.

"Nice ta meet ya ta, little one. Sorrah 'bout mah reaction, Ah didn' wanta scare ya."

Strike perks up at the accent, enjoying the odd way it rolls off this mech's glossa. He makes a sharp negative noise, trying to convey the mech didn't scare him. The mech grins lightly at him and Strike coos back.

The next few breems pass with Jazz slowly approaching and speaking to Strike. He stops any time the twins bristle or rev their engines warningly, knowing better than to push two Guardians in regards to their sparkling.

Jazz is very, _very_ aware of exactly how dangerous Gladiators are in general. He had been in his own share of Rings, fighting when credits were short and he was desperate in his younger years. He had seen bots defend their sparklings. He knew intimately, had had a front row seat to, exactly what a Gladiator Caretaker would do in defense of what they considered their own.

Jazz had no desire to be painfully offlined.

But _oh_ he wanted to see the little one.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

 **Jazz's reaction will be expanded on some more in the next chapter- the other bots are scrambling to get my attention right now, and my Muse is just kind of like 'no, yeah. Stop it here because then you can—" so here we are. XD**


	18. SPECIAL NUMBER ONE

**SPECIAL CHAPTER (500 Reviews!) 'The Law of Potter'.**

 **Takes place WAY later on the 'Little One' Timeline so SPOILERS!**

 **Once more:**

 _LITTLE ONE SPOLIERS_

 **(even though I tried to keep some things under my hat for later reveals, not explaining the 'how' something happened just that it did)**

 **~….~ Over a bond**

 **/…./ over a comm.**

 _Words-like-this_ **generally emotions projected over a bond.**

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Shadowstrike thanked Primus every day for Jazz.

The mech had been the older brother Harry had always wanted, and he had given Shadowstrike the skills to survive just about anything.

And when you were a Potter, that was worth its weight in gold.

Harry had learned long ago that his luck was that of the Devil's. It was either hellishly bad, or 'divine intervention' good with occasional moments of both at once. Changing dimensions hadn't changed that fact. His childhood with the Autobots had only solidified that knowledge, and once the Decepticons had become aware of him…

He had been the cause of many spark-attacks and crashes as a sparkling, and was still a leading cause of stress even now.

Shadowstrike couldn't say he didn't love his job though. Exploring space? Absolutely amazing, and once the gravity of Earth was gone, he could really let loose with his flying. He had to watch out for other things of course- like the time he almost got caught in a sun going supernova, or the time with the black hole, and the once when he found a previously undiscovered wormhole- but it was a rush with a view he never got tired of.

And once the whole 'fixing Cybertron' issue was solved, a permanent Space Bridge was put on Mars that allowed instant travel from Cybertron to the planet that had sheltered Cybertronians in their time of need. So Shadowstrike got to see his old home whenever he wanted, while also having entire sections of space laid before he pedes that had never been seen with human eyes.

He was loving every moment of it.

O~O~O~

The mission had been a simple one. Once Optimus had sent out the message to the Autobots to head for Earth, he had sent out a beacon. Autobots had responded, had come to Earth, but they were not the only ones to pick up the message and turn their attentions to the Sol System and the third planet.

Even now, so long after it had been sent out, Extraterrestrial Life was still responding to the message. Some were drawn by curiosity, others by hope, and still more by unsavory plans. For the friends they had made, for the memories they had of Earth, for the home it had offered when they had no home to call their own, Optimus had set up a rotating guard of the Sol system, but especially for Earth, using the Space Bridge they had anchored between Cybertron and Mars.

And it was Shadowstrike's turn to watch over his old planet.

O~O~O~

The first sign something was wrong, was his twitchy wings.

Strike's wings only ever twitched that way when something was about to happen. Something big- something dangerous. He shifted his weight, wings twitching sharply, and upped the sensitivity of his scanners.

 _ **~Strike? What is it?~**_

Shadowstrike settled a little at the sound of one of his Caretakers over their Bond. Even though he was older now (much, much older than he had ever dreamed of being) the two front-liners could still settle his worries. The _wary-protective-alert_ feelings pouring over the Bond also helped to settle him, despite the twins not being present on Mars at all, and in fact being back on Cybertron. (If Harry was thankful for one thing above all others, it was that distance had no effect on the Bond he shared with the twins that had taken him in as a sparkling.)

 _ **~Nothing. Yet.~**_

 _ **~And that means…~**_ Sunstreaker's voice was alert as he joined the conversation his twin had started.

 _ **~My wings are twitchy.~**_

The _wary-protective-alert_ feelings pouring off his Caretakers sharpened, deepening and swelling over the Bond. _**~Be Careful.~**_ they commanded him and Shadowstrike grinned lightly to himself. They had plenty of experience with his twitchy wings and knew by now not to question the accuracy of them. It never failed- if his wings got twitchy, _something_ was about to go down.

 _ **~I always am.~**_

 _ **~If you need backup, we're only a space bridge away little one.~**_ Sideswipe's voice was steady, the rock he had always been.

 _ **~I know Caretaker. I'll probably be able to handle it, but put the others over there on Standby please?~**_ he enforced the verbal words with a flood of feelings _wary-alert-prepared-thankful-love_.

Love flooded back over the Bonds he shared with the twins alongside ' _affirmative-agreement-readiness_ 'and Shadowstrike turned his complete attention back to his surroundings even as he basked in it.

O~O~O~

" _Sweet Primus…_ " Shadowstrike's whisper seemed to echo across the distance, his optics and the optics of all those around him, focused sharply on what it was that had made Strike's wings so twitchy.

There, approaching the Sol system and Earth, were ships. Great, hulking ships, drifting closer to the planet. Ships that were painted in such a way as to provoke images of death, and pain. If Strike was seeing the outside of the ships right, if he was seeing what he thought he was seeing, the ships themselves were decorated with _trophies_. Trophies taken from the kills of whoever-whatever- is on the ships.

Bones, and weapons, spatters of blood mixed with the remains of bodies and ash.

 _ **~Strike?~**_

Shadowstrike makes no move to acknowledge the sharp worry in Sunstreaker's query. Instead he whirls to face his fellow Cybertronians, and begins to snap commands, his wings mantling behind him in a position of dominance and demand.

There is a moment where no one moves, optics focused on the approaching crafts, before Shadowstrike snaps in a voice he had learned from Optimus as a sparkling _"_ _ **Now**_ _bots!"_

Cybertronians leap into motion even as Shadowstrike straightens, flaring his wings out and calling "Seekers! To me!"

He hears the whir of engines as the Seekers mixed within the crowd fly over it to land behind him, falling into flanking positions automatically.

He turns sharply to face the seekers behind him, his green optics gleaming, as he begins to speak "I don't know what or who is in those ships, but it is obvious that they are a threat. They carry trophies of death on their ships, and they came here to the Sol System. They threaten Earth, and if we fall here, they will have access to the Space Bridge and to our home Cybertron. So we cannot fall. As Seekers we are the best hope in holding them off in the air."

Shadowstrike pauses, his optics scanning the faceplates of the Seekers in front of him. "I will attempt to speak to them" Optimus had taught him that much in his sparkling-hood. Had taught him that all beings had a right to choose, deserved a _chance_ to choose. "Try to make them turn back peacefully. But know that I do not expect that to work. That I expect we will need to hold the ships here, that I expect we will need to fight, and that it will not be easy." His wings twitched again, his instincts singing of the coming battle, and Shadowstrike knows even before he moves from his place that he is about to lead troops into battle.

It is a mark of the respect he holds amongst the Seekers that each of those there bow in a synchronized movement, their wings spread wide before rising sharply. Shadowstrike straightens up, transforming quickly.

He hears the other Seekers follow his lead, as he leaps into the air and begins flying towards the ships approaching the Earth. He sends out a hail and isn't surprised when it is picked up by a strange looking creature dressed in what appears to be armor and wearing bones as jewelry with skulls and spines used as a belt.

" _Why are you here?"_ Shadowstrike asks.

" _The third planet is full of resources we require the use of."_ The creature responds.

" _The third planet is Protected. What resources would you seek to use?"_ Shadowstrike's voice is calm, but sharp and unbending. It is another tone he had picked up from Optimus mixed with a hint of Ratchet's 'no-nonsense-I-am-about-to-throw-a-wrench' one.

" _We seek that which is called 'humans'."_

And Shadowstrike's engines snarl sharply, his tone hardening and sharpening with angered warning _"You may not have them. They are sentient and under our watch. Leave this place. I will tell you only once."_

He is not surprised when the creature refuses sharply and offers him an ultimatum. _"We will not. You will move or be Hunted."_

The choice was an obvious one.

O~O~O~

Shadowstrike twists sharply, barking commands over the encrypted comm-lines as he dodges the ships' fire. **/ Silverstream! Move! Hotlink** _ **where is that info I asked for?**_ **Shadowstep that had** _ **better not**_ **be you down there or I swear to Primus-if you went out on your own again I will** _ **not**_ **be held responsible for my actions! /**

Shadowstrike cursed sharply, dipping into a Wronski Feint as one of the small scouter ships the larger one had deployed tried to shoot him out of the sky. He angled himself just so, carefully turning his frame into a spiral as he plummeted towards the surface of Mars.

Troops leapt out of the blast zone, knowing what was coming from experience, while the scouter followed after him. At the very, very last second, Strike pulled up smoothly out of his dive. The scouter wasn't so lucky. Strike easily ascended back to his original height, aiming for one of the larger crafts.

He was right above the ship when he transformed, falling to land atop the craft and easily applying what his Caretakers had taught him of 'Jet Judo' to force the ship out of the air, riding the craft down towards Mars until the last possible moment before he shoved off of it and back into the air, transforming to his alt-mode midair.

 **/ Hotlink** _ **move it!**_ **Seekers! Formation Twins! /** Shadowstrike had named this particular formation after Fred and George. His Caretakers had a formation named after them called Gladiator. Twins Formation focused more on misdirection, shifting and changing as it moved, Seekers dipping in and out quickly, with fast targeted strikes and ever-changing marks. Gladiator was meant as a more head-on charge, a heavy damage targeted formation.

The Seekers leapt into movement, Hotlink's voice snapping over the comm **/ Do you** _ **know**_ **how hard it is to fight** _ **and**_ **decrypt information from a system I have never seen before at the same time? I'm** _ **working on it, frag it. /**_

Shadowstrike smirked to himself even as he joined the other Seekers in formation Twins.

O~O~O~ 

_Where were they_ _ **coming**_ _from?_

There was so _many._

It was starting to stir his temper to life. While Harry had had an explosive violent temper when he was angered, his Caretakers and family had taught Shadowstrike to manage his anger and temper better as he grew.

Shadowstrike was a much calmer individual who was generally very difficult to truly anger anymore. He had learned to channel his anger, to let go, to breathe through it.

Flying through the air with dented and damaged armor, watching his friends fight and be injured on the ground, watching his fellow Seekers be knocked from the air, Shadowstrike finds he is very much _not calm._

 **~Son of Ultron! Pit-Slag! Glitched good for nothing fraggers!~** _anger-worry-pain_.

 **~Shadowstrike!~** _worried-surprised-scolding_.

Shadowstrike jerked just slightly. He hadn't realized he was projecting his thoughts and feelings through his Bond with his Caretakers until that very moment, when Sideswipe's sharp tone broke through the rant.

 **~Caretaker. Apologies.~** _surprise-sheepish-apology_.

 **~What has happened little one?~** Sunstreaker's voice was calm but unyielding. A demand for information.

 **~…My luck struck again. I may need that back up. And Ratchet. Make sure he's prepared for injured in a battle scenario please?~** _resigned-worried-pained._

The wave of worry and reassurance, the sense of motion and accomplishment, reassured Shadowstrike he would soon have reinforcements and a medic who knew how to handle wounded coming in from battles.

He sighed over the bond **~Thank you Caretakers. The enemy is some sort of nomadic hunter. They aim for resources of other worlds, and will fight and wipe out entire races for them if I am reading this properly. Seeing as they came to Sol System looking for the resource 'humans' they are not above or against slavery either.~**

Shadowstrike paused for a moment, spiraling down to the ground, transforming before he crashed, and using the momentum to tackle Shadowstep from the side, wrapping his servos around the mech's shoulders and heaving the bot out of the path of incoming missiles. He hissed as the heat and pieces of Mars slammed into his back-plates. **/ Shadowstep** _ **what did I say about wandering?**_ **I'm giving you to Ironhide for retraining at the end of this I swear to Primus! /**

 **/ Sorry Boss! I had it under control! Thanks for the save though! /**

Shadowstrike hissed dropping the mech and growling the command to 'be careful' before he went back to speaking with his worried Caretakers **~Hotlink is working on decryption, but you may want to bring Jazz and Prowl along with you. These defenses are like nothing we've seen before, and they seem to have an endless stream of reinforcements. I am beginning to wonder if they have space bridge technology of their own.~**

His Caretakers respond in one voice, powerful like the tides of the ocean, and the gravity of black holes **~We'll be through the Bridge with reinforcements in a quarter-breem. Hold the line.~**

 **~Yes Sirs.~**

O~O~O~

Shadowstrike was in the middle of crashing when the Space Bridge whirred to life behind him.

He had been clipped by one of the Hunter's missiles defending the space bridge itself; forced from the sky by an injured wing. He transformed before he hit the ground, tucking himself into a messy roll to reduce any damage, and hissed a stream of curses he had learned from a drunken Prowl. He was pushing himself into a kneeling position when the Space Bridge finished coming online behind him.

It took less than an astrosecond for Shadowstrike to suddenly find himself with a set of golden and red raging walls between him and the enemies as his Caretakers barreled through the Bridge and leap over his knelt form to get between him and any ships that might have tried to take advantage.

A nano-klik behind them comes Ironhide, who barrels for the frontlines even as Ratchet, Hook, and Jolt, dart out and immediately begin barking commands even as they break off towards the wounded. And then Jazz was shot into the shadows and towards Hotlink with Prowl striding powerfully towards the frontlines with Optimus a step behind his strategist.

Shadowstrike feels his shoulders relax a fraction even as Jazz opens a com between them **/ One ah these days, yer luck is gonna offline all ah us mechlin'. /**

 **/ Sorry Jazz. It's always been like this. /**

Prowl joins the conversation **/ It is most illogical. No one should statistically have the luck that you do. /**

 **/ Sorry Prowl. /**

 **/ How damaged are you sparkling? /** Sunstreaker interrupts any further comments with a voice like stone and optics gleaming towards the white of his Gladiator programming.

 **/ Dents and dings. The worst of it is my wing. I took a bad graze keeping the space bridge from blowing up. /**

Shadowstep breaks into the conversation before anyone can continue, and Strike _knows_ this is the mech's vengeance for threatening Ironhide Retraining as the he contradicts **/ That wasn't a graze Commander. That was a missile. It exploded. On your wing. /**

And Strike can't even defend himself as Ratchet chooses that moment to scream over the line with a voice like thunder **/ If you're sitting there with a wing suffering missile damage winglet, I will** _ **recalibrate you into a toaster!**_ **Get** _ **over here!**_ **/**

Shadowstrike pushes himself to his pedes, silently swearing vengeance as he marches towards the medics, knowing better then to fight the demand, especially with his Caretakers backing it.

It was supposed to be a _simple mission_.

Sometimes, he hated the famed Potter Luck.

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 **Quarter-breem: 2minutes.**

 **It is three in the morning, please excuse any typos.**


	19. Chapter 19

**For some reason, people seem to think I just…jumped into Strike's adulthood? That wasn't what I did. That was a Special for the milestone in reviews. And while it may be somewhat cannon, I wasn't planning on skipping Strike's entire childhood. We are back to out regularly scheduled fic. If you check the top, I will try to warn you all when Special's come up.**

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Strike stares at the door, a low hum escaping.

He likes the small mech, he decides, humming happily. Strike can tell he's dark- that he's seen the shadows of the world and had chosen to submerge himself in them for the sake of others- that he is happy, and friendly despite this. He appreciates a mech that can look at the dark and rather than be afraid chose to blend in with it.

Blaise had been that way, before the war had taken his friend.

Jazz wasn't Blaise, but Shadowstrike thought he could grow to enjoy the silver mech's company all the same. His optics drifted up to the twins who were staring at him intently.

Provided of course, that Sunstreaker and Sideswipe let him.

Despite what he had said, he could feel that the fact _Jazz_ had been the one to trigger his memories of before made the twins…twitchy. He tilted his helm, chirping demandingly.

He wanted to know who he would be meeting next. It was obvious he was being introduced to the twins nearest and dearest, and he wanted to meet them all, even if he only got to spend a short amount of time with each due to Ratchet and the twins not wanting to stress him.

He knew from the twitching of derma the twins had picked up on his intense curiosity.

"Alright little one." Sideswipe shook his helm, his armor rippling over his frame for a moment before he turned to Ratchet, nodding once. Sunstreaker's armor rippled over himself before his servo curled slightly around Shadowstrike's form in a shielding gesture before he stilled, a behemoth gargoyle that stared down the door.

Ratchet turned his helm towards the door, summoning the next bot to be introduced to the little miracle.

O~O~O~

Ironhide was not a very patient mech. He knew how to wait of course, how to stalk prey like a cyber-wolf, knew sometimes you would need to time a counterstrike perfectly.

He was not a patient mech by nature, but he had been forced to learn patience over the course of the war.

He was not very happy to see Protocol 9-8-3 go into effect. He'd seen it before, and the last time that had happened they had to send the Allspark off planet. The fact that the Twins were the ones to put it into effect worried him.

He had mentored the Twins for mega-vorns. He knew them. He had taught them, had tempered that survivalist mindset from the Gladiator Pits into a sharp blade wielded for the Autobots, had helped teach them trust and teamwork with others.

He knew, whatever they had found, it had to be _**big**_ to cause his students to put the Protocol into effect. And for it to still be going on?

For them to pull in Optimus, and then Jazz?

Ironhide's instincts were screaming at him. He wondered what great battle was coming their way, what information Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had found, what actions he would soon have to take.

 _~Ratchet to Ironhide.~_

 _~Go ahead.~_

 _~Report to medbay~_

Ironhide pulled himself to attention, easily changing his course towards Ratchet's Domain.

It seemed his questions would soon be answered. He tried not to wonder what would call first their Prime in, then the Special Ops Commander followed by the Weapons Specialist.

After visiting their Medical Officer.

His armor rattled slightly, instinctively. It was a warning, much like the Earth Rattlesnake. Ironhide would take on whatever- whoever- he needed to, to protect his own.

 _~On my way~_


End file.
